Ronald Acuña Jr. grew to become the primary ever member of MLB’s 30 house run-60 stolen base membership final month. Then he created the 40-60 membership final week.
You possibly can most likely guess the place that is going.
The Atlanta Braves star stole his seventieth base of the season to turn out to be the primary participant in MLB historical past to submit a 40-70 season, swiping the bag within the tenth inning towards Chicago Cubs.
Acuña reached base by tying the sport with an opposite-field single to attain the extra-innings runner. He stole the bag on the subsequent pitch, then celebrated by pulling second base out of the bottom and hoisting it above his head as Braves followers gave him a standing ovation:
The second paused a tense scenario for the Cubs, who’re at present preventing for all times within the playoff race as the present holders of the third NL wild-card spot. After all, the workforce solely had itself guilty within the first place after blowing leads within the backside of the eighth and ninth innings, sooner or later after Seiya Suzuki’s game-costing gaffe.
The following hitter, Ozzie Albies, put the sport away on the next pitch with a line-drive single to proper to notch a 6-5 walk-off win.
The win was a notable one for the 102-58 Braves, because it clinched them one of the best document within the Nationwide League, 4.5 video games forward of the 97-60 Dodgers. The 99-59 Baltimore Orioles are the one workforce left within the AL who might maintain home-field benefit in a hypothetical World Sequence.
Acuña, the present favourite for NL MVP honors, has clearly been a major a part of these 102 wins. His stolen base whole has been aided by latest MLB rule modifications limiting pickoff strikes and increasing the bases, sure, however his 2023 season has nonetheless been the most effective power-speed combos in MLB historical past.
With the highest seed and, probably, the MVP secured, all that is left for Acuña is to compete for his first profession World Sequence motion. The Braves will start their playoff marketing campaign within the NLDS towards the winner of the wild-card sequence between the No. 4 and 5 seeds, at present the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves.