Adam Jones nonchalantly robs Acuna of HR
Braves' Snitker: 'I thought it was out when he hit it'
PHOENIX -- D-backs right fielder Adam Jones made the very difficult look very easy Thursday night at Chase Field, casually taking a homer away from the Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. with two outs in the sixth inning.
The catch preserved a 1-1 tie in the opening game of a four-game series in Phoenix.
D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said he wasn’t sure if the ball was going to the warning track, or if Jones was trying to deke the runner when he casually made his way back to the wall.
Braves manager Brian Snitker was sure his team was going to take a 3-1 lead when the ball left the bat.
"I thought it was out when he hit it,” Snitker said. “I thought it was a no-brainer. A nice play that he made."
Meanwhile, pitcher Luke Weaver was ticked that he had allowed the Acuna at-bat to get to that point and thought the ball was out until he saw Jones, and then figured maybe it was going to die on the warning track.
“Jonesie was just so nonchalant out there,” Weaver said. “I thought it was maybe just a fly out to the warning track, and then all of a sudden he hopped up like he was in BP, and just trying to look cool for his teammates.”
Weaver’s look of disgust after the Jones catch was frustration at himself for the pitch, not a lack of appreciation.
“Let the record show my facial expression was not all that great and I am mad at myself for that, but I was just more in shock,” Weaver said. “I made sure I hugged him. He wanted to fist bump me and I said, ‘No, I need a hug right now.’”