ATLANTA, GA – JUNE 04: Ronald Acuña Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves stands on the field before the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Truist Park on June 4, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It didn’t take very long for Ronald Acuna Jr. to start striking fear into the hearts of the FCL pitchers. His grand slam and five RBIs was critical in driving the FCL Braves to a shootout win, even though he only had three plate appearances and left after three innings.
(16-36) FCL Braves 14, (23-29) FCL Red Sox 13
Box Score
Ronald Acuna Jr., DH: 1-1, HR, 2 BB, 5 RBI, .143/.333/.571
Ha-Seong Kim, SS: 0-2, 2 BB, RBI, .333/.556/.833
Andrew McCutchen: 0-3, BB, RBI, .100/.357/.200
Caden Merritt, CF: 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, .206/.333/.254
It’s safe to say Ronald Acuna Jr. is feeling pretty well at the moment. In his first two times at the plate he didn’t get enough in the strike zone to make a big impact, but swung at and fouled off every in-zone pitch thrown his way. He ended up working two walks, the latter of those forcing home a run in the second inning, and going into his third inning at-bat the Braves had a cool 7-4 lead. Acuna had another chance with the bases loaded. Once again Acuna was aggressive on a couple of fastballs in the zone but couldn’t get either into play, but when he got a taste of a slider he obliterated it. 112.8 mph off of the bat and 423 feet turned into a grand slam and put the FCL Braves well ahead in the game. In addition to just being normal Ronald contact, I want you to look at the pitch he hit. I can’t fathom how anyone can hit a ball that far below the zone 423 feet but we are talking about Ronald Acuna Jr. here so I guess I have to bend my concept of reality a bit.
Ronald Acuña Jr.’s Grand Slam from today’s FCL Game pic.twitter.com/OlE2orXDFb— CoolToday Park (@cooltodaypark) July 16, 2026
Once again Acuna only got three plate appearances, but this is a pretty high note for him to end his day on. Ha-Seong Kim had a couple of walks on the day, including one in that second inning to score a run, but he only went one more inning than Acuna before he was taken out of the game. Even though Acuna was out of the game you would expect an 11-4 lead to be a pretty safe bet, but this is the FCL and nothing good ever happens. The Red Sox rattled off nine runs in the next three innings, including six in the sixth, and going into the latter third of the game held a 13-11 lead. Meanwhile the Braves hadn’t scored since Acuna left in the third inning. They finally got things back in the seventh inning with a game-tying, two-run home run that Malvin Fernandez managed to squeak out of the park. In the eighth they loaded the bases with no outs, and though the offense didn’t do much a run did come home on a force out at second base to give the FCL Braves a rare win.
(9-23) DSL Braves 0, (20-13) DSL Giants Orange 5
Box Score
Jose Manon, 2B: 1-1, .298/.398/.394
Edelson Cabral, SS: 1-3, .266/.407/.404
Sherrintley De Costa Gomez, DH: 1-3, .282/.423/.471
Geowin Gomez, SP: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3.12 ERA
Geowin Gomez had only allowed two earned runs this entire season prior to his appearance for the DSL Braves on Thursday, and it seemed like he would keep his great work up early. He pitched three scoreless innings, but the game went haywire in the fourth inning when he allowed four straight hits and had to be removed from the game without recording an out. The Giants scored five runs in the inning — the only scoring inning for either side in the game — with four of those being charged to Gomez. Jose Manon had a single in the first inning and Edelson Cabral followed with one of his own to put runners on the corners early, but three straight Braves struck out to waste the early scoring chance. More importantly Manon had to leave the game, and the video we have doesn’t really seem to show much beyond it maybe being an awkward slide. The Braves are no strangers to their top international prospects getting hurt early in their careers and we can only hope the same isn’t going to happen to Manon.
Jose Manon is removed from the game after going first to third on this Edelson Cabral single pic.twitter.com/JoavX4T6db— Gaurav (@gvedak) July 16, 2026