ST. LOUIS -- The worry about Ronald Acuña Jr.’s health appears to be short-lived.
About an hour before the Braves kicked off a three-game series against the Cardinals on Friday, it was announced that the 27-year-old slugger had been scratched from the upcoming Home Run Derby on Monday and was replaced by teammate Matt Olson. While he has played in three straight games, Acuña said he made the decision after missing Tuesday’s game with lower back soreness.
“Just the incredible amount of energy to be able to kind of just sustain that the whole time,” Acuña said through an interpreter. “And I think not just for myself, but if anyone sort of has anything going on with their back, I think it's just one of those things where I think you want to just stay away from it to avoid any consequences that could happen.”
Acuña dispelled any concerns quickly, drilling this third pitch of the game for a double and singling home a run in the second. Sean Murphy put on his own home run derby with a pair of towering shots and the Braves beat the Cardinals, 6-5.
Acuña’s double sparked a three-run first inning for the Braves that set the tone for the game. Austin Riley singled him home and Murphy followed with a mammoth Statcast-projected 437-foot home run to make it 3-0.
Acuña singled home Michael Harris II to give the Braves a 4-2 lead. The hits had exit velocities of 113.3 and 98.9 mph, respectively, according to Statcast.
Acuña added a single in the ninth that left his bat at 110.1 mph.
“I was just seeing the ball well, but I think the important thing is I was able to help the team win tonight,” Acuña said.
Murphy continued his power display with a leadoff homer in the third, pummeling a Matthew Liberatore sinker 440-feet over the center-field wall on the 13th pitch he saw in the at bat.
“I used my time out before I got up there, and around pitch nine, I was very tired. So kind of wish I still had my time out at that point,” Murphy said. “Just battling … put a ball in play, see what happens.”
Murphy had three hits, marking his first three-hit game since a four-hit effort against Detroit on June 19, 2024. It was also his sixth career multihomer game.
“The game just ebbs and flows, right?” Murphy said. “I'm kind of doing the same things that I have been doing, maybe adjusting a couple of thoughts here and there, but honestly, nothing too different. Just the way it goes sometimes.”
Two batters later, Drake Baldwin singled home Jurickson Profar to make it 6-2.
The Braves threatened to break it open in the third, but Harris hit into an unlucky double play as he flied out to center and Victor Scott II made a perfect throw home to get Baldwin at the plate.
It turned out that Atlanta would need every one of those runs.
After Grant Holmes gave up two in the first and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, he was roughed up for three in the bottom of the third. Pedro Pagés had a two-run single and Scott drove in another as the Cardinals cut it to 6-5.
But the Braves bullpen held it from there. Enyel De Los Santos (3-2), Austin Cox, Rafael Montero, Pierce Johnson and Raisel Iglesias (10th save) combined for six innings of scoreless relief.
“They were just unbelievable,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “What they did and how they handed it off to each other, the jams they pitched out of and because Grant was just grinding. I mean, he was grinding tonight. The secondary pitches have been something he's been leaning on all year, and tonight it just wasn't happening for him. But he just kept fighting it, and the guys did a great job coming in behind him and holding that one run lead.”
Neither Holmes nor Liberatore made it past the third inning. It was the first time a Major League game had two starters pitch three innings or fewer and allow nine hits or more since June 16, 2019, in a game between San Diego and Colorado, according to Elias.
Braves third baseman Austin Riley left the game in the fourth with lower abdominal tightness. Snitker said the team will know more later.
The Braves have also yet to name a starter for Saturday’s game. Needing to cover six innings with the bullpen on Friday may complicate that decision.
“Everything’s a possibility,” Snitker said.