ATLANTA — Like Mets fans will never forget what Chipper Jones did to their team at the end of the 1999 National League East race, Phillies fans won’t forget how Ronald Acuña Jr. significantly weakened their division title hopes this year.
Acuña skillfully played the villain role last weekend in Philadelphia and he has further endeared himself to Atlanta fans this weekend. The 2023 NL MVP highlighted a three-hit performance when he homered and singled during an eight-run fourth inning in the Braves’ 12-2 win over the Phillies on Saturday night at Truist Park.
“He’s a great player,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “For me, this is honestly nothing new. He terrorized clubs [when I was] in Miami. He’s good all the time. If he’s healthy and playing every day, he’s always dangerous. And you could argue, probably the most dangerous guy on the field when he’s healthy.”
Riding the momentum of Friday night’s comeback victory, the Braves (88-61) moved six games in front of the second-place Phillies (82-67) in the NL East. Atlanta has also clinched the tiebreaker. Both teams will have 12 games remaining after this three-game series concludes Sunday.
“It’s been huge to take these first two games and it will be even better to get the third one [Sunday],” said Braves center fielder Michael Harris II, who capped his four-hit night with a home run off Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs in the eighth.
Acuña has hit .378 with four homers and a 1.184 OPS in 12 games against the Phillies this year. Maybe more impressive is what he has done since Atlanta entered last weekend’s series in Philadelphia with a four-game lead.
The Braves right fielder has hit .478 with three home runs and a 1.500 OPS in six games against Philadelphia this month. He irritated Phillies fans last weekend with a long home run trot that was followed by him mockingly taking a curtain call in enemy territory.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so,” Acuña said. “I just go out there, have fun and help my team win.”
Jones’ love-hate relationship with Mets fans was fueled as he hit .400 with seven homers and a 1.510 OPS against the Mets in 1999. The Braves led New York by two games when the two teams began a three-game set in Atlanta with 12 games remaining.
The Hall of Fame third baseman homered four times in nine at-bats as the Braves swept that three-game series to all but lock up the division. Current manager Walt Weiss served as Atlanta’s shortstop that year.
“It’s tough to match what Chipper did that year,” Weiss said. “But look, Ronald, he gets fired up for big games and the bright lights. It’s good to see him start to look like himself again, and he’s been doing that for a little while now.”
Having spent a majority of this season with the Giants, Tyler Mahle is certainly happy to be in the thick of a division race he has significantly influenced. Mahle has posted a 1.25 ERA in the seven starts he has made since being acquired before the Trade Deadline.
Included in this strong stretch are two strong efforts against the Phillies. The veteran limited the Phillies to two unearned runs over six innings last Sunday in Philadelphia. He followed that by allowing just one earned run over six innings on Saturday.
“Everyone’s playing well,” Mahle said. “Everyone’s out there competing. I’ve never pitched in ballgames like this, so it’s just a lot of fun.”
Bryce Harper homered off Mahle in the first inning and then took 34.27 seconds to round the bases, his longest home run trot since Statcast began tracking in 2015. He did this six days after Acuña took 32.36 seconds to round the bases after hitting a game-tying three-run homer in the eighth inning last Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.
Harper said it was just a coincidence. Mahle said he didn’t notice it.
“That’s part of the game,” Acuña said. “If you homer, do whatever you want.”
Like Jones during the final weeks of his 1999 NL MVP season, Acuña has seemingly been able to do whatever he has wanted during this crucial time of the year.