Top prospect Acuña feels at home in Braves’ victory
Ronald Acuña Jr., widely considered baseball’s top prospect, looked polished in his big-league debut.
Acuña singled and scored the tying run in the eighth inning, and Atlanta beat the Reds 5-4 in Cincinnati on Wednesday night. He went 1for-5, playing left field.
Acuña, 20, became the youngest player in the majors when he was called up from Triple-A before the game.
“As soon as I hit the field, I felt at home,” Acuña said through a translator. “I felt comfortable.”
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker saw no signs of nerves from the prodigy.
“I thought he was really good,” Snitker said. “Nothing affected him. He wasn’t overwhelmed. He went out and played his game.”
Acuña asked for No. 13, after fellow Venezuelans Dave Concepcion, Ozzie Guillen and Omar Vizquel. The newcomer twice flied out deep and struck out twice.
Ozzie Albies, the second-youngest player in the bigs at 21, homered for Atlanta. He was hit by a pitch to begin the ninth and scored the go-ahead run on Johan Camargo’s second double of the game, a sharp one-hopper that shortstop Cliff Pennington couldn’t backhand.
“If you put the ball in play, good things can happen,” Snitker said.
Acuña scored on Kurt Suzuki’s two-out single in the eighth to tie it 4-4. Rockies 5, Padres 2: Jon Gray struck out 11 in six dominant innings and David Dahl lined a two-run triple, lifting host Colorado past San Diego. Marlins 8, Dodgers 6: Rookie Trevor Richards outpitched Clayton Kershaw just months removed from working as a substitute elementary school teacher, and visiting Miami took advantage of a wild outing from the Los Angeles lefty.
Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3: Mookie Betts homered twice and drove in three runs as visiting Boston snapped its season-high losing streak at three games.
Cardinals 9, Mets 1: Marcell Ozuna hit a tie-breaking two-run single and Michael Wacha won his fourth straight start for host St. Louis, which lost center fielder Tommy Pham to a head injury from earlier in the day. He was cut when he accidentally hit himself in the indoor batting cage.
Rays 8, Orioles 4: Former A’s second baseman Joey Wendle had three hits and two RBIs, Adeiny Hechavarria homered and visiting Tampa Bay beat former teammate Alex Cobb and Baltimore. Tampa lefty Jonny Venters made a successful return to the majors after three Tommy John surgeries and a six-year absence, inducing a groundout from the Orioles’ Chris Davis.
Brewers 6, Royals 2: Jhoulys Chacin efficiently mowed through the Kansas City lineup, and visiting Milwaukee won its eighth straight game.
Indians 4, Cubs 1: Francisco Lindor and Edwin Encarnacion hit sixth-inning home runs and host Cleveland beat Chicago despite losing reliever Andrew Miller to a left hamstring injury that the team described as tightness. The Indians said Miller is expected to be out for just a few days.
Astros 5, Angels 2: Justin Verlander pitched seven sharp innings, AL MVP Jose Altuve hit his first homer of the season and Houston ended Los Angeles’ road win streak at a team-record-tying 11. Albert Pujols homered off Verlander for the 619th of his career.
Mariners 4, White Sox 3: Mike Zunino homered and scored twice as visiting Seattle boosted Felix Hernandez (3-2) after a shaky start.
Yankees 7, Twins 4: Didi Gregorius homered for the fourth straight game and added two RBIs to his majorleague-leading total of 29 as host New York dealt Minnesota its sixth straight loss.
Phillies 5, D’backs 3: Aaron Altherr hit a go-ahead threerun homer, Jake Arrieta outpitched Zack Greinke and host Philadelphia beat Arizona.
Game 1, Tigers 13, Pirates 10: Nicholas Castellanos had four hits and a key home run and visiting Detroit used 20 hits to win the doubleheader opener.
Game 2, Pirates 8, Tigers 3: Jose Osuna, called up from the minors to serve as an extra player for the second game, hit a three-run homer to lift Pittsburgh to the split.