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BOSTON — Ronald Acuña Jr. kissed his bat after kissing one goodbye for the first time in more than a month.
Acuña had reason to celebrate when he drilled a grand slam over the Green Monster in the decisive five-run sixth inning of a 10-2 Braves win over the Red Sox on Thursday afternoon at Fenway Park. This was just his third homer of the season and first since April 24.
As soon as Acuña hit his Statcast-projected 417-foot shot, he took a few horizontal steps across the batter’s box, kissed his bat and then slammed it before beginning his home-run trot. The energetic outfielder has displayed a collection of home run celebrations throughout his career, but this one seemed to show some relief and appreciation.
Acuña’s most memorable grand slam is the one he hit as a rookie against the Dodgers’ Walker Buehler in Game 3 of the 2018 NL Division Series. This was his fourth regular-season slam and first since he hit one at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 31, 2023.
Acuña has struggled with his bid to get back to an elite level this year. He hit .240 with a .724 OPS over the 34 games he played before he pulled his left hamstring on May 2. He remained sidelined until May 19 and entered Thursday having gone 5-for-30 with one extra-base hit (a double) since being activated.
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