MLB Highlights of Last Week: Ronald Acuna Jr, A Terrible Call, A No-Hitter, and On-Field Tensions

It was another eventful week of baseball as a new generation of talent continues to flourish at the beginning of the season. Electric rookies Akil Baddoo of the Detroit Tigers and Yermin Mercedes of the Chicago White Sox continued their early season dominance while international star Shohei Ohtani has showed signs of having a breakout year.

Ronald Acuna Jr is Unstoppable

The main story for this week has been Ronald Acuna Jr who has been the best player in baseball at the beginning of the season. He leads the league in home runs, runs batted in, hits, and runs scored. Acuna is already a proven superstar, but he has gained a lot of criticism in the past for not hustling out of the batters box and overall maturity. That has not been the case so far this year as he has been the most dangerous man on base this year. He ended his week with four home runs and an incredible base-running highlight in which he scored from second on an infield hit against the Chicago Cubs last Friday. Unfortunately, he left Sunday’s game with an abdominal strain and could miss time.

Braves robbed against Phillies

Despite Acuna’s brilliance, his team, the Atlanta Braves, has had a roller coaster season so far. Last year’s National League Pennant runner-ups started the season 0-4 before winning 4 straight. Looking to complete a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies last Sunday, they were robbed on the most controversial play of the season so far. With the game tied 6-6, Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius popped up to shallow left field. Alec Bohm tagged from third base and ran home. The umpire called him safe, even though the replay seemed to show that Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud tagged him before he touched home plate. The play was upheld and the Phillies ended up winning the game 7-6. Braves manager Brian Snitker and several players from the team blasted the call after the game.

Carlos Rodon’s throws a No-Hitter for the White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are another pennant contender that has started the early season up-and-down. However, they probably got the jolt they needed after starting pitcher Carlos Rodon threw the 20th no-hitter in franchise history. He was two outs away from a perfect game, but he hit Indians catcher Roberto Perez with a pitch. The two seemed to exchange words (lightheartedly) after the pitch. If he achieved the perfect game, it would have been the fourth perfect game in White Sox history and only the 24th overall in MLB history.

Another Week of Tempers Flaring

It has only been three weeks into the season and there has already been five or six bench-clearing incidents, though none of them have turned into legitimate brawls.

Last week the Cubs and the Brewers continued their beanball feud. Cubs pitcher Ryan Tepera threw at Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff and the two exchanged words. Anthony Rizzo and Wilson Contreras also decided to get in on the action by yelling at Woodruff. The benches cleared the week before after Contreras was hit by a pitch by Brad Boxberger.

Contreras admitted that the Cubs were trying to hit Woodruff. This led to Tepera being suspended three games and his manager David Ross being suspended one game. Talk about throwing your team under the bus.

Benches Clear after Adam Eaton and Andres Gimenez Wimpy Shoving Match

Benches

The day after the no-hitter, the White Sox and Indians got into it after a play at second base. Chicago’s Adam Eaton took exception to how Cleveland’s Andres Gimenez was guarding the bag and lightly shoved him. For some reason, the benches cleared, but no punches were thrown and there were no ejections.

Benches Clear Twice in Exciting Dodgers- Padres series

Then, there were two incidents involving the MLB’s new heated rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. Benches cleared in the 10th inning of game 1 of the series after Dennis Santana hit Jorge Mateo. Again, no punches were thrown but a drunk fan hilariously entered the field to join the commotion.

In game 2 of the series, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw got into a shouting match with Juriekson Profar after a catcher’s interference call. Kershaw allegedly took exception to Profar’s swing that made contact with Dodger’s catcher Will Smith’s glove.

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This did not change the excitement of the actual baseball played in the series. The stars came out to perform as the Dodgers rotation of aces displayed their stuff and the Padres lineup of sluggers also got in their hits.

Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer came up with clutch hits in Game 1 and Game 3 of the series and rising superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. homered in his first at-bat from injury. Manny Machado also continued his dominance over last year’s Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer, and helped the Padres take Game 3 of the series with a three-hit performance.

It was the defending World Series champions who won the first battle, however, as they took 2 out of 3 from the Padres with their bats, pitching, and defensive abilities. The Dodgers took advantage of Padres mistakes in an 11-6 extra inning victory in Game 1, and superstar Mookie Betts made a miraculous game-saving catch at the end of Game 2.

The two teams will meet 16 more times this season, so there will surely be more exciting and contentious matchups in the future.

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Other Highlights

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto turned a triple play as the Reds continue their solid start.

Max Scherzer passes Cy Young in strikeouts.

Red Sox continue dominance following opening day sweep, while the Yankees struggles continue.

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