Ronald Acuña Jr. did not play Thursday, taking a rest from a woeful offensive stretch that saw his batting average dip to .228 for the season. He came back to the field on Friday with vengeance.
Acuña went 3-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored in the Braves’ 6-4 win over the Rockies in the series opener of a three-game set at Truist Park. Acuña had not had a three-hit game since Sept. 26.
“Yeah, I’m feeling better. I do a couple adjustments early hitting BP (batting practice) so I feel good today,” Acuña said. “The day off, sometimes they can help you. But, you know, I try to make good contact so I’m fine for today. So let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
Michael Harris II complemented Acuña’s big night by going 2-for-3 with three RBIs, two of which came on a fifth-inning home run.
Harris is hitting .368 since Aug. 18.
“Yeah, obviously feels good to make good contact. The main thing I’m trying to do up there is hit the ball hard, and then whatever happens after that happens,” Harris said. “Tonight was one of those nights where I felt like I was in my zone and hit the ball hard.”
The Braves (80-55) became the fourth team to reach 80 wins thanks to a fifth straight victory. They won their 46th home game and 18th series opener at home while improving to 11-1 on Friday home games and 68-2 when leading after eight innings.
Now 19-5 at Truist since the All-Star Break, the Braves trimmed their magic number to win the division to 23.
Closer Raisel Iglesias notched his 29th save of the season to give the veteran four consecutive seasons with at least 29 saves. He gave up a leadoff single in the ninth but got a 3-6-3 double play and then a diving catch in shallow right field by second baseman Ozzie Albies to end the game.
“It’s a good win after a really emotional series against the Dodgers,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “You want to make sure there’s not a letdown there, and our guys came out to play and got the win.”
For the 76th time this season, the Braves scored first in a game. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second on Harris’ RBI double into the right-center gap, a two-out RBI double from Sean Murphy down the left field line and a Drake Baldwin RBI single up the middle.
Mauricio Dubón drove in his team-leading 54th RBI with runners in scoring position with a one-out RBI single up the middle in the third.
Braves starter Grant Holmes (9-5) was not his sharpest Friday despite beginning the game with four scoreless innings. He had allowed four hits and a walk to that point, then gave up back-to-back singles to begin the fifth before Jake McCarthy’s sacrifice fly to right put the Rockies on the board.
Hunter Goodman’s bouncing single between third and short plated another run and cut the Rockies’ deficit in half. TJ Rumfield’s fielder’s choice plated a third run.
Holmes got out of the fifth inning, his last, without any further damage. It marked the 12th start this season in which Holmes has allowed at least three runs.
The Braves got two runs right back in the bottom of the fifth on Harris’ two-run homer to right, a 351-foot moonshot for his 22nd homer of the season. Acuña had doubled to right before Harris’ blast.
“I think it’s not about, it’s about timing or about doing something when I’m reloading,” Acuña said when pressed if he made any adjustments at the plate. “Baseball is hard sometimes. You feel good sometimes, but you don’t have results. So let’s continue working with my hitting coach, (in) the (batting) cage. I can control what I can control. Play hard no matter what happens.”
Braves’ left-handed reliever Ray Kerr allowed a run in the seventh on Willi Castro’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center field.
Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano (12-8) was charged six earned runs on 10 hits and a walk over four innings.
The Rockies (52-83) left 10 runners on base and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
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