Acuña first to 10 HRs in 2021: 'It feels good'
This browser does not support the video element.
Just a day after receiving National League Player of the Month honors, Ronald Acuña Jr. collected his 10th home run of the season and helped the Braves to a 6-1 win at Nationals Park on Tuesday night.
“It feels good, but you know the most important thing is that we got the win,” said Acuña.
The homer broke a six-way tie for first place atop the Major League leaderboard. Acuña has 34 hits, 21 RBIs and three stolen bases, and is currently hitting .337/.430/1.153 over 101 plate appearances this season. He is a front-runner in almost every offensive category with no signs of slowing down.
In the top of the fifth inning with two outs, Nationals starter Joe Ross delivered a 94-mph fastball to Acuña, who broke the scoreless tie to give the Braves momentum. Acuña’s home run registered an exit velocity of 105.1 mph and was sent a Statcast-projected 407 feet to straight-away center field.
Prior to taking the Major League lead in home runs, Acuña was tied for first with Kris Bryant, Byron Buxton, Nick Castellanos, J.D. Martinez and Shohei Ohtani. Acuña ranks in MLB's top-10 in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, and OPS.
Acuña, 23, continues to make improvements that make him look like a 10-year veteran. The Braves star also leads the Majors in runs (27).
“We came in with three losses in a row, but today’s a new game, a new series, and we're going to head into this series expecting to win,” said Acuña.
Although some of Atlanta’s stars are starting to heat up, including Ozzie Albies (eight extra-base hits and three homers in the last eight games) and Austin Riley, the Braves could always use some extra production at the plate.