Heriberto Hernández came from left field. Esteury Ruiz traveled from center. Both Miami Marlins outfielders were in position to snuff out a deep fly ball from Atlanta Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. in the third inning on Thursday night.
It didn’t end up in either of their mitts.
Actually, the ball caromed over the Truist Park left-center wall after it ricocheted off the gloves of Hernández and Ruiz, who collided at the catch point on the warning track.
“When I saw the ball, I thought it was leaving the ballpark,” Ruiz said through an interpreter, per MLB.com. “While I was running, I noticed it was going to stay on the field. I said, ‘I got it,’ and you can see in the video that [Hernández] also said, ‘I got it.’
“But we couldn’t hear each other with the noise of the ballpark. We couldn’t hear each other.”
What could be heard was the roar of a Braves crowd that relished in the unorthodox two-run tater and eventually celebrated an 11-3 win, Atlanta’s eighth straight. Acuña also hit a solo shot in the eighth inning. That opposite-field dinger flew only 337 feet, but it willed itself into the field-field seats.
“The second was special,” Acuña said, according to The Athletic. “Because the first one looked like I needed help. The second one I didn’t need help with.
“The most important thing is we won eight in a row, so let’s continue with the series in New York.”
The Braves (70-45) completed their three-game sweep of the Marlins (58-58) and now will head to the Bronx to face the Yankees. Atlanta has a firm lead in the NL East, as it’s currently 8.5 games up on the second-place Philadelphia Phillies.
And fortunately for the Braves, Acuña is finding a charge in his swing. He’s homered in four of his past 28 at-bats and has boosted his season total to 11 long balls.
That’s a welcome sight in Atlanta, considering the 2023 NL MVP’s injury and hitting struggles in 2026. Hamstring issues have forced him to miss significant time this season, including 38 consecutive games earlier this summer.
“It’s good to have him back at the top of the lineup swinging like this,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson said, per MLB.com.
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