(670 The Score) In the bottom of the 10th inning of a tie game Wednesday, Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. stole his 70th base of the season.
In doing so, Acuna became the first player in MLB history to reach the 40-homer, 70-stolen base mark in a single season. To commemorate the achievement, Acuna called for time and then pulled the base out of the ground and hoisted it over his head to celebrate. At the same time, the Braves played a tribute video to celebrate the accomplishment.
The game was delayed for a couple minutes, with Cubs rookie reliever Daniel Palencia just milling about the mound waiting. After play resumed, Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies lined a game-winning RBI single into right field to give Atlanta a 6-5 victory.
“This is pretty absurd,” Marquee Sports Network color commentator Jim Deshaies said on the broadcast Wednesday night of Acuna’s celebration and the game delay.
The loss was a big blow to the Cubs’ playoff hopes, as they fell into a tie with the Marlins for the final National League wild-card spot. The trouble for Chicago is that Miami holds the tiebreaker, so the Cubs have to play one game better than Marlins as four contests remain in the regular season.
On the Mully & Haugh Show on Thursday morning, Marquee Sports Network analyst Joe Girardi – a longtime MLB manager – praised Acuna but added that he’d be upset by the game delay if he was in the Cubs’ dugout.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Ronald Acuna, because I think he’s clearly the MVP,” Girardi said. “He’s one of the best all-around players I’ve ever seen. But it was not a record. Yes, it is a record in the sense that no one has ever had 40 and 70. I get that. But it wasn’t the stolen base record. I wouldn’t have been happy about it, just because I want my pitcher to stay in rhythm and we’re fighting for our (playoff) lives. Now, if it’s meaningless game, I’m not going to be bothered. But because I have a rookie on the mound, I don’t want him sitting around there. I would’ve been like, ‘What are we doing here?’ But it’s baseball. It is entertainment, and you can’t forget that. And to me, he’s the MVP of the league. But we’re trying to win a game here. It would upset me.”