The Atlanta Braves haven’t made it straightforward on themselves these days. A Bo Bichette grand slam powered the New York Mets to a 7-5 win over Atlanta on Friday evening, and the Braves dropped two extra video games: Sunday’s collection finale and Tuesday’s recreation to the San Francisco Giants 7-2 as they opened a brand new collection at Truist Park.
The cushion that when felt comfy has now been misplaced to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who sit at 48-27 and maintain the most effective report in baseball, with the Braves dropping to 46-26.
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The slide has coincided with the absence of Ronald Acuña Jr. Acuña left a recreation towards the Chicago White Sox on June 9 with a left hamstring harm after making an attempt to beat out an infield single. An MRI the next day confirmed a Grade 1 pressure, marking his second hamstring situation in the identical leg this season, having already missed time from May 3 to 18 with the identical harm.
Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
Acuña was positioned again on the 10-day injured record, with Rowdy Tellez referred to as up within the corresponding roster transfer.
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Wednesday introduced a extra sobering replace. Hours earlier than the sport towards San Francisco, supervisor Walt Weiss advised reporters that Acuña is a “long way” from returning. Because the hamstring pressure is in the identical spot because the earlier harm, the Braves intend to be extra cautious than they had been when Acuña missed almost three weeks the primary time round (by way of Mark Bowman of MLB.com).
It is unlucky information for a lineup that has in any other case carried this group to its greatest begin in recent times. Acuña was hitting .281 with 5 dwelling runs and a .913 OPS in 25 video games since returning from his first IL stint on April 26.
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Injuries, most notably a pair of torn ACLs, have restricted Acuña to 557 of a potential 882 regular-season video games since 2021, and this newest setback provides one other chapter to a resume that features a 2023 National League MVP award and a 41-homer, 73-steal season that continues to be one of the vital exceptional in current reminiscence.
This marks the seventh completely different harm that has despatched him to the injured record throughout his 9 MLB seasons.
The Braves have weathered a lot already this 12 months and nonetheless maintain the most effective report within the National League East. They’ll hope they’ll return to profitable methods with out their famous person in entrance of their dwelling followers on Wednesday.
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This story was initially printed by Athlon Sports on Jun 17, 2026, the place it first appeared within the MLB part. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.