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Ronald Acuña Jr. returned to the Atlanta Braves lineup this weekend with fireworks, but the results didn’t match the energy. Despite Acuña delivering an unforgettable leadoff home run in his first plate appearance after missing nearly a year, the Braves dropped two of three to the San Diego Padres at Truist Park.
“It wasn’t what we wanted,” Braves manager Brian Snitker admitted after Sunday’s 4-3 loss. “I kind of felt really good today about coming in and winning another series. So yeah, it kind of is [disappointing].”
Acuña was the first player in MLB history to hit a leadoff homer after missing 150 or more games. He went 4-for-12 with two home runs, a double, and three RBIs over the three-game set, showing no signs of favoring his surgically repaired left knee. His return injected life into a team that has struggled to find consistent momentum. But even with his presence, the Braves have now lost four of their last five games and sit at 25-27 — 8.5 games behind the first-place Phillies.
The Braves’ offense was inconsistent despite the return of their star leadoff man and a solid showing from rookie catcher Drake Baldwin, who joined Acuña, Marcell Ozuna, Matt Olson, and Austin Riley to form a formidable top five in Sunday’s lineup. Ozzie Albies also showed signs of life, going 2-for-2 with two doubles and extending his hit streak to 11 games.
The Braves look to Ozzie Albies to heat up beside Ronald Acuña Jr.
“Hopefully Oz is getting ready to get a little something going,” Snitker said. “Man, that’d be huge if we could get him going consistently like he has over the last few years.”
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Pitching wasn’t the issue. Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach tossed seven innings with 11 strikeouts and no walks, allowing just two earned runs. But a costly throwing error by Austin Riley in the sixth inning led to two unearned runs and ultimately cost Atlanta the series.
“I don’t think it’s all him, if you want to know the truth,” Snitker said of Riley’s fifth error in 15 games. “He’s getting some bad hops… I don’t think it’s a bad infielder. I think some of the stuff is out of his control.”
The Braves now prepare for a critical three-game series in Philadelphia, where they'll face a daunting rotation of Ranger Suárez, Zack Wheeler, and Cristopher Sánchez. Atlanta will counter with Spencer Strider, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Chris Sale, who has returned to elite form after a rough start to the season. In his last six outings, Sale owns a 1.64 ERA and has struck out 46 batters over 38 1/3 innings.
Despite the recent slide, Snitker remains optimistic.
“We’ve got a lot of time for things to get really good,” he said. “We’re not gonna win the division in May. I’m encouraged that we haven’t played our best baseball yet and we’re hanging right in there.”
Acuña is back. Now the Braves hope their rhythm follows.
