The Miami Marlins outfielders took the definition of outfield assist to a whole new level.
Normally, an outfield assist is credited to an outfielder when they throw a ball into the infield to record an out against a baserunner. In the bottom of the third inning of the Marlins’ 11-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Thursday at Truist Park, they did the complete opposite of recording an outfield assist.
With a man on first base, Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. hammered Marlins' starter Janson Junk’s 79-mph sweeper to deep left-center field but didn’t quite get enough of it to clear the wall.
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Luckily for Acuña, Marlins left fielder Heriberto Hernández and center fielder Esteury Ruiz did not communicate about who was going to catch the deep fly ball, and they collided with each other on the warning track. When Ruiz and Hernandez collided, the ball popped up and over the wall for a home run.
The two outfielders looked around on the ground for the ball only to realize they had knocked it over the wall.
Acuña stood on first base for a couple of seconds, unsure if it was a home run before he eventually rounded the bases. Ruiz said the two outfielders couldn’t hear each other.
"When I saw the ball, I thought it was leaving the ballpark," Ruiz said through an interpreter, per MLB.com. "While I was running, I noticed it was going to stay on the field. I said, 'I got it,' and you can see in the video that (Hernández) also said, 'I got it.' But we couldn't hear each other with the noise of the ballpark. We couldn't hear each other."
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For Acuña, it was the first of two home runs he hit in the win. He hit his second home run over the right-field wall, with no help from the outfielders, in the eighth inning to give the Braves a 9-2 lead.
"The second one was special, because the first one told me I needed help," Acuña said, according to MLB.com.
"(Acuña) had a little angel on his shoulder tonight, or something," Braves first baseman Matt Olson said, according to MLB.com.
The Braves’ victory was their season-high eighth straight, as they continue to build on their 8 1/2 game lead in the National League East.
The Braves (70-45) will look to extend their winning streak against the New York Yankees (64-51) on Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
The Marlins (58-58) will look to bounce back against the Los Angeles Angels (56-59) on Friday at 7:10 p.m. ET.
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