Marlins reignite Acuña HBP drama, drop their 7th consecutive series

The Marlins dropped their seventh straight series on Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Atlanta Braves by a final score of 12-1. Atlanta tagged Miami starter Ryan Gusto for three home runs in what was the roughest outing of his young big league career, though those weren’t the only fireworks at loanDepot park.

Coming off Tuesday night’s contest, when the Braves scored nine runs in the ninth inning en route to an 11-2 win, Atlanta carried that momentum into the getaway day matinee. Leadoff hitter Jurickson Profar wasted no time, opening the game with his 11th home run of the season, a solo shot off Gusto.

The 26-year-old right-hander settled down for a stretch before the Braves broke through again in the third. With a runner on, Matt Olson crushed a 426-foot two-run homer to straightaway center to extend Atlanta’s lead to 3-0.

The very next pitch added drama. Ronald Acuña Jr. was hit on the elbow guard by a 93.3 mph fastball, prompting him to immediately drop his bat and bark at Gusto as he walked toward the mound.

Gusto, making just his third start for Miami since being acquired in the Jesús Sánchez trade, had no reason to intentionally target Acuña. Still, Atlanta’s star saw it differently. Manager Brian Snitker was ejected after protesting the umpiring crew's decision to issue warnings to both benches.

It’s worth noting there was no bad blood between the two clubs this season, and the warnings appeared to stem more from Acuña’s reaction than Gusto’s intent.

"On the scouting report, it says to throw sinkers in," Gusto said postgame. "I threw a sinker in and it obviously ran off a little bit too far." The right-hander mentioned that he was trying to tell Acuña that in real time, it seemed like his arm dropped into the pitch accidentally. 

"I was trying to tell him when he was staring me down that he went down into it and obviously, 'I'm not targeting you, I'm not throwing a two-seam at you,' so it was kind of interesting to me that that escalated as much as it did," Gusto added.

Snitker wanted Gusto tossed in the heat of the moment, telling him "you have to go" following the incident. However, Snitker would ultimately be the only person on either side to get ejected.

Of course, the tension between Acuña and Miami pitching staff is nothing new. Their history dates back to 2018, Acuña’s rookie year, when he went on a torrid stretch that included five consecutive games with a home run—three of them to lead off against the Marlins. On the first pitch of their next meeting, José Ureña drilled Acuña with a 97.5 mph fastball, sparking a saga that has lingered ever since.

Since that infamous moment, Marlins pitchers have hit Acuña eight more times in regular season play, including Wednesday’s incident. The only hitters Miami has plunked more often are former NL East rivals Victor Robles (11) and Michael Conforto (10).

While Ureña’s 2018 beanball was widely viewed as intentional, the Marlins roster, coaching staff and front office have been completely overhauled since then. Even if the old Marlins had some absurd agenda to antagonize Acuña, that is no longer relevant. Also, Acuña’s batting stance—open at setup before he closes and hovers over the plate—leaves him vulnerable up and in, where pitchers often attack to get him out, occasionally resulting in inadvertent HBPs.

Acuña is hardly the only one who takes his lumps. Marlins rookie catcher Agustín Ramírez, for example, has been hit eight times just this month. Unlike Acuña, Ramírez has kept his composure, never spiking bats or confronting pitchers. Since his debut in 2018, Acuña ranks 26th in MLB in hit-by-pitches.

That’s been a consistent storyline with Acuña—the superstar’s hyperbolic reactions tend to escalate otherwise routine HBPs. Getting hit is painful, no doubt, but his tendency to create a scene has become a familiar sight around the league.

While that subplot grabbed attention, the game itself got away from Miami quickly. Gusto was tagged for nine earned runs in 3 ⅔ innings, forcing utility man Javier Sanoja to make his second pitching appearance in as many days. Atlanta cruised to a 12-1 victory and outscored the Fish by a 24-5 margin over the course of the series.