*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
The Ronald Acuña Jr show has been just as electrifying as ever coming off a torn ACL. Acuña Jr homered, Travis D'Arnaud drove in the winning run, and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Milwaukee Brewers with a 3-2 victory on Saturday night in Atlanta.
Recently, Acuña Jr rejoined the Braves lineup after recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered in the middle of last season. He's been exactly the same character he always is, and his home run was big for the Braves, who have split the first two games of their NLDS rematch against the Brewers.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of Acuña that "Obviously, getting Acuña back is a huge deal for them. When you look at the team, the first thing I see is it’s just a very well-rounded team. It’s a good offensive team. It’s a good defensive team. There’s a good bullpen down there. There’s really good starters. They have a lot of ways to beat you and they’re going to win a lot of games."
In the 5th inning, Acuña Jr got the Braves on the board, whacking a solo home run to left field, putting the Braves up by a 1-0 score. One inning later, Ozzie Albies drove in Marcell Ozuna with an RBI single, making it 2-0 Braves. In the 7th inning, Hunter Renfroe hit a solo home run to center field, getting the Brewers on the board and making it a 2-1 game.
In the 8th inning, Austin Riley came around to score on an RBI single by D'Arnaud, restoring the two run lead to make it 3-1 Braves. In the 9th, the Brewers got one back when Christian Yelich scored on an RBI single by Tyrone Taylor, but the Brewers couldn't score again.
Getting the start for the Braves was Max Fried, who performed exceptionally. Fried lasted 7 innings, allowing only one run on 4 hits and one walk, striking out 8 hitters in the win. After Fried came a shutout 8th inning from AJ Minter, followed by Kenley Jansen picking up his 8th save of the season in the 9th inning.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said of the play of Fried that "He’s had a lot of big moments the last few years, too. I don’t think he’ll ever feel like he’s a finished product because there’s always things he can improve. Most of the great ones are like that."
It was Corbin Burnes who got the start for the Brewers, who had a solid game on the mound, but fell to 1-2 on the season with a loss. Burnes allowed two runs on 6 hits while striking out 7 hitters over 6 innings. Luis Perdomo pitched the final two innings, allowing one run.
Renfroe said of coming up short that "We have to play better than that. It’s kind of one of those deals where you get it out of your system now and learn from it and be better. Corbin pitched perfectly fine tonight. He induced ground balls, he induced soft contact. It just so happened to not be his night."
Up next, the Braves and Brewers conclude their series on Sunday afternoon. Charlie Morton gets the start for the Braves, while Aaron Ashby takes the hill for the Brewers.
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