The Atlanta Braves took Game 1 of Tuesday’s National League Division Series matchup with the Miami Marlins, and as we’ve seen in previous Braves-Marlins games, baseball’s unwritten rules came into play.
When Ronald Acuña Jr. opened the first inning with a leadoff home run off the second deck at Minute Maid Park, the Braves outfielder gave the ball a long watch as he walked out of the box and tossed his bat before starting his trot.
The Marlins responded to that moment as many expected … in the lamest way possible. They hit Acuña on the backside with a 98 mph fastball in his next at-bat.
Well, Acuña had himself the final say following the Braves’ 9-5 win. He went full Conor McGregor with an Instagram post.
Acuña wrote in the caption, sharing a photo of the bat flip:
I’d like to take this time to apologize to absolutely NOBODY
This was, of course, a reference to McGregor’s epic octagon interview following UFC 205 in 2016.
But really, it’s great to see that Acuña has no intention to change the way he plays (and how he celebrates). He’s had a few dustups with the Marlins, but as we saw on Tuesday, throwing at Acuña only fired up the Braves. Atlanta outscored Miami, 8-1, following Acuña’s hit-by-pitch.
Acuña shouldn’t apologize. It’s the postseason, after all.
