Ronald Acuña Jr. added another line to a career full of them Wednesday, and this one came with a place in MLB history.
The Atlanta Braves star hammered a three-run homer in a 9-0 win over the Washington Nationals, becoming the fastest player ever to reach 200 career home runs and 200 stolen bases. Acuña did it in his 904th career game, beating the old standard of 929 games set by Alfonso Soriano. In a strange twist, Soriano hit that mark in August 2006 as a member of the Nationals against Atlanta.
Acuña’s record-setting moment came in the seventh inning, when he sent his 14th home run of the season to left-center field and pushed Atlanta’s lead to 6-0.
He had already done damage on the bases before that. In the sixth inning, after opening the frame with a single off Washington starter Riley Cornelio, Acuña swiped second for his 20th steal of the season and the 225th stolen base of his career.
That inning ended up being the one that cracked the game open for Atlanta. Cornelio punched out the next two batters, then intentionally walked Michael Harris II. Sean Murphy made the Nationals pay, launching a three-run homer to left field for a 3-0 Braves lead.
It was Murphy’s third homer in five games, a continuation of his recent run at the plate.
The game had already been put on hold in the fourth inning because of a 1-hour, 25-minute rain delay, but Atlanta didn’t let that slow it down. Once the action picked back up, the Braves kept pushing until a scoreless game turned into a comfortable blowout.
For Acuña, though, the night belonged to the milestone. It was another reminder of just how rare his blend of power and speed really is.
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