Ronald Acuña Jr. slams his way into the record books
By Tab Bamford
Throughout the 2018 regular season the young Atlanta Braves have been doing things offensively that have rarely, if ever, been done before. Led by Ozzie Albies and Rookie of the Year favorite Ronald Acuña Jr. the Braves have hit the ball all over the field all season.
In the first postseason game ever played at SunTrust Park in Atlanta, the bats woke up for the Braves. And the biggest shot came from Acuña, who unloaded on a 98 mph fastball from Walker Buehler and deposited it 414 feet away in the bottom of the second inning.
IT'S GONE! A GRAND SLAM!
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 8, 2018
The rookie Ronald Acuña Jr. is on FIRE for the @Braves! pic.twitter.com/cUsXm0GHHX
At 20 years and 293 days old, Acuña becomes the youngest players in postsesason history to hit a grand slam. He replaces Yankees legend Mickey Mantle (21-349) at the top of the list.
#Braves' Ronald Acuña is the youngest player in #MLB history to hit a #postseason grand slam and just the 4th rookie ever to do it:
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 8, 2018
1951 #Yankees Gil McDougald
1999 #Yankees Ricky Ledee
2011 #Dbacks Paul Goldschmidt
2018 #Braves Ronald Acuña pic.twitter.com/OgyA7b0BEp
Jayson Stark pointed out that not only does Acuña join another short list in MLB postseason history, but he did it against a pitcher who was throwing incredibly well.
Leadoff hitter postseason grand slams:
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) October 8, 2018
Dan Gladden 1987 WS
Johnny Damon 2004 ALCS
Kaz Matsui 2007 NLDS
Francisco Lindor 2017 ALDS
Ronald Acuna Jr. tonight!
Walker Buehler’s previous 4 starts:
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) October 8, 2018
99 batters faced, 2 ER, 0 HR.
Then gave up 4 ER on one swing by Ronald Acuna Jr.
How mysterious is baseball?
Can we get another “Titanic” reference?
Confession: I’ve never actually seen Titanic, but I’ve seen Acuña hit a grand slam in the postseason and I can’t imagine Titanic is better than that
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) October 8, 2018
Braves legend Dale Murphy knows what’s up.
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— Dale Murphy (@DaleMurphy3) October 8, 2018
Featured Image: Scott Cunningham / Getty Images Sport