Freddie Freeman voiced his frustration at a teammate after the Atlanta Braves’ loss in Game 1 of their National League Division Series.
The Braves pulled to within one run after entering the bottom of the ninth inning down 7-3 but came up just short to lose the first game of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals. After the game, Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman called out teammate Ronald Acuna Jr. for not running hard out of the box — an issue that has been present throughout this season.
Freeman on Acuña not running out of box: “It is frustrating…. That can’t happen in the postseason. It can’t happen in the regular season…. Unfortunately tonight it did.”
Said you have that conversation once, which they did, and after that it’s beating a dead horse.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) October 4, 2019
The play Freeman is referring to took place in the seventh inning. Acuna was caught watching the ball instead of hustling out of the batter’s box on a drive to right field. As a result, Acuna ended up with a single instead of what could have been a double.
Ronald Acuna Jr. almost hits a home run but just misses and ends up with a single #ChopOn pic.twitter.com/CS73eMY3Xy
— Jimmy Clarke (@JimmyClarke) October 3, 2019
Acuna did hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning and finished the game with three hits. There’s no doubt he’s one of the more talented players in baseball and is already a star at just 21 years old. However, there is a lesson to be learned from Thursday’s game. Hopefully for the Braves, it sinks in this time.
