Acuña’s 121.2 mph (!!) HR the hardest-hit ball this yr

LOS ANGELES — Ronald Acuña Jr. hit one of many hardest homers ever recorded and Orlando Arcia hit one which may have ensured the Braves can have home-field benefit all through the postseason.

Acuña produced the season’s highest exit velocity with a third-inning solo shot and Arcia drilled a three-run house run that gave the Braves a 4-2, 10-inning win over the Dodgers on Saturday evening at Dodger Stadium.

“I’m super happy for the success he’s had this season and I feel like he’s made for big moments,” Acuña stated.

Acuña was speaking about Arcia, however he may have simply been speaking about himself. He has homered in every of the three wins the Braves have up to now tallied on this four-game set. But Acuña was each bit as completely satisfied to speak about Arcia’s newest clutch contribution, which backed a robust six-inning effort by Bryce Elder.

Arcia drilled his sport winner in opposition to Alex Vesia with two outs within the tenth. His seventeenth homer of the season gave the Braves an opportunity to brush this four-game collection with a win on Sunday. They now lead the Dodgers by seven video games within the battle for the National League’s finest report.

“You never come in here thinking you’re going to win three, four or whatever,” Braves supervisor Brian Snitker stated. “You just take it one game at a time. This team is so relentless.”

Acuña bought issues rolling with a solo homer that sailed over the center-field wall throughout the third inning. The huge blast had a 121.2 mph exit velocity, making it the third-hardest-hit homer and sixth-hardest-hit ball since Statcast started monitoring this knowledge in 2015.

“Oh my God, I was wondering if that was the hardest one ever hit,” Snitker stated.

As quickly as Acuña pulverized Emmet Sheehan’s fastball, he took a pair steps out of the field, dropped his bat and started flapping his arms, which is the Braves’ “give the ball wings” ritual. This 454-foot homer didn’t want any help because it flew to the batters’ eye past the center-field wall.

“I never imagined that was going to be the exit velocity on it, but yeah, I hit it hard,” Acuña stated.

Acuña joins the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge as the one gamers who’ve ever generated a 121-plus mph exit velocity on a house run. Stanton has surpassed this pace twice (121.7 mph vs. the Rangers, Aug. 9, 2018, and 121.3 mph vs. the Nationals, July 25, 2020). Judge homered with a 121.1 mph exit velo on June 10, 2017, in opposition to the Orioles.

Stanton accounts for 4 of the 5 exit velos greater than what’s now Acuña’s finest. The Pirates’ Oneil Cruz produced the best exit velo with a 122.4 mph single in opposition to the Braves on Aug. 24, 2022.

Before Saturday, Acuña’s hardest-hit homer was a 117.4 mph shot in opposition to the Reds on June 27, 2021. His hardest-hit ball was 117.9 mph single tallied in opposition to the Pirates on July 5, 2021.

“When I got back to the dugout, some of my teammates were asking me if that was all I got,” Acuña stated.

Along with being a battle between the groups with MLB’s high two information, this collection was billed as one that may characteristic the NL’s high two MVP candidates. Mookie Betts loved a two-homer efficiency on Thursday, however his contributions weren’t sufficient at because the Braves benefited from Acuña’s grand slam that evening.

Acuña has gone 6-for-13 with a double, three homers, two walks (one intentional) and two stolen bases by means of the collection’ first three video games. Betts has gone 2-for-11 with two walks and 4 strikeouts.

“I’m really happy and it’s been a great season,” Acuña stated. “Fortunately, we were able to win tonight and now we can just keep moving forward.”