Ronald Acuña hit again, Freddie Freeman carries Atlanta Braves to win over Marlins

The Atlanta Braves welcomed in the pesky Marlins for a 3-game series at SunTrust Park on Tuesday evening. Atlanta took Game 1 of the series by a final of 5-1.

The Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins have always been division rivals. However, it seems that since Jose Urena hit Ronald Acuna Jr. with the first pitch of a game in 2018, the rivalry has evolved into a more personal one.

Not only has it ignited the rivalry but also Ronald Acuña’s motivation to play well against Miami. He has continued to torment them even after his incident with Urena.

Acuña has a career slash line of .336/.416/.709 when facing the Marlins. He has 15 home runs and 33 RBI with an OPS of 1.125 when opposing Miami.

It seemed that the hard feelings haven’t gone away just yet. Acuña was once again hit by the first pitch of the game on Tuesday by Marlins pitcher Elieser Hernandez.

Acuña and manager Brian Snitker were noticeably upset over what happened. I’m sure Acuña is tired of being hit by pitches and I would be too. It’s something he has to consider each time he goes to the plate against the fish.

Brian Snitker’s irritation came mostly after both sides received a warning from home plate umpire, Alan Porter. This led to Snit eventually being tossed after the warnings were issued.

However, I can understand Snit’s frustration because if you think the hit-by-pitch was intentional enough to issue a warning, why not just throw Hernandez from the game? At that point, Keuchel would likely be tossed if a ball slipped out of his hand while pitching inside.

Luckily it didn’t affect the Braves as they were able to get 6 innings out of Keuchel and the offense took care of business. Game 1 ended with a final score of 5-1 in favor of Atlanta.

Let’s get into some highlights from Tuesday’s game.