Acuña reaches batter's eye with a must-see homer

DETROIT -- Depending on which dugout you’re in, a well-struck homer can either amp up your team or suck the air from the room.

Luckily for the Braves, they have Ronald Acuña Jr. Of the six home runs hit in the nightcap at Comerica Park on Wednesday, Acuña’s packed the biggest wallop by a long shot.

Literally.

The Braves already had the lead in the third inning during a game they went on to win against the Tigers, 6-5, when Acuña unleashed a 461-foot moon shot that crashed into the ivy-covered Chevrolet Fountain in center field.

“I've watched [Acuña] play for a long time, and that's the best I've ever seen him,” said Tigers reliever Michael Lorenzen, who served up the fateful pitch. “I don't know why I threw him a strike, to be honest. I mean, you can just tell he feels really good. His hands, I didn't even see his bat come through the zone, it's so fast. It's pretty impressive to see what he's doing."

The victory completed a doubleheader sweep and clinched a three-game series win for Atlanta, which also won the matinee, 10-7. Acuña homered in that one, too, his 429-footer part of a three-hit, three-RBI game.

Acuña’s teammates were equally impressed.

“I heard someone say no one has hit [a ball] up there before,” said Michael Harris II, who homered in Game 1. “He’s doing a lot of things that other players haven’t done or can’t do. He’s a talent.”

Acuña has six 450-foot-plus round-trippers this season. To put that into context, no other team has more than six. Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who hit eight at least that far before July in 2015, also holds the season record in the Statcast era with 10. Atlanta’s right-fielder is just five shy of breaking the record, and he’s not even halfway through the season.

“I said it's like, 'You better not leave your seat and go to the bathroom, get a beer or anything because you might miss something you've never seen before,’” manager Brian Snitker said. “You know when he's on the field. I mean, you can see something defensively. And definitely something offensively. It's amazing.”

Acuña’s tape-measure poke in the nightcap was not a great sign for the home team but an unexpected boost for the visitors, who also saw home runs from Ozzie Albies and Eddie Rosario.

After Dylan Dodd was knocked out early following a five-run, four-inning outing, Collin McHugh stepped up with three perfect frames in his wake to save the bullpen and earn his third win of the season.

The division-leading Braves have won nine of their past 11 games heading into a four-game homestand against the Rockies that begins Thursday.