Mindful of their history with Jose Urena, Ronald Acuna Jr and the Atlanta Braves settled the score by running it up.
Acuna celebrated a homer off Urena with a showy bat flip as the Braves rocked the Miami Marlins right-hander to win 7-1 on Friday.
Mike Soroka took a three-hit shutout into the ninth for Atlanta and won his seventh consecutive decision.
Photo: AFP
Urena was suspended for six games for intentionally hitting Acuna on the arm with a pitch in August last year, triggering a melee. That likely explains why Acuna showboated a bit when he homered in the fourth inning, carrying his bat most of the way to first base before tossing it high over his right shoulder.
Acuna blew a big gum bubble after rounding second base, then pointed into his dugout and shouted as he approached home plate.
Was the bat blip his best yet?
“I feel like I’ve got a better one lined up,” the Venezuelan said through a translator.
“If he feels good with that, good for him,” Urena said of the flip.
Urena (4-7) gave up 11 hits and six runs in three-plus innings, his shortest outing this year. He fell to 2-8 in 16 career appearances against Atlanta with an ERA of 6.64.
“It’s tough when you face a team that knows what you got and the way you work,” Urena said.
Acuna’s homer was his 13th. He also had a one-hop RBI single off the fence against Urena in the second and a run-scoring single off Taiwan’s Chen Wei-yin in the fifth.
Chen pitched two innings, conceding only that hit.
Soroka (7-1) lowered his ERA to 1.38. He retired 10 in a row before allowing a leadoff walk — his second — in the ninth and then departed.
That runner came around to score, but Dan Winkler got the final three outs to complete a five-hitter.
Additional reporting by staff writer
In other games on Friday, it was:
‧ Red Sox 1, Rays 5
‧ Diamondbacks 8, Blue Jays 2
‧ Phillies 4, Reds 2
‧ Rockies 5, Mets 1
‧ Indians 5, Yankees 2
‧ Cubs 3, Cardinals 1
‧ Twins 6, Tigers 3
‧ Astros 4, Orioles 3, 11 Innings
‧ Athletics 5, Rangers 3
‧ Royals 6, White Sox 4
‧ Brewers 10, Pirates 4
‧ Angels 2, Mariners 6
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