Acuña's legs vs. El Mago's arm: Who wins?
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Ronald Acuña Jr. seems to be turning in jaw-dropping highlights on a daily basis this season. His latest feat? Outdoing the man known as El Mago by scoring from second base on a grounder to shortstop at Wrigley Field in Friday's 5-2 win over the Cubs.
After singling off Cubs right-hander Zach Davies on an outside pitch that was well outside of the strike zone in the top of the fourth inning, Acuña was on second with two outs when Marcell Ozuna hit a hard ground ball to the Cubs’ Javier Báez.
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Báez, who has been known to pull off some impressive baserunning moves himself, dropped to his knees to field the ball and flipped over onto his back before getting back to his feet. This brief delay was all the opening that Acuña needed: He raced home and slid in ahead of Báez’s 85.6-mph throw.
"It was one of the more unusual plays you'll see," said Cubs bench coach Andy Green -- who was serving as the manager Friday with David Ross serving a one-game suspension. "You're talking about somebody as good as Javy on defense, who's made just about every play imaginable and is always on top of every single play."
Just another day for Acuña, who is quickly becoming the most must-see player in the game.