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Ronald Acuna Jr. was knocked to the ground by fans running onto the field
Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. was unhurt after fans ran onto the field and knocked him out in Colorado.
In the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies, a man ran onto the field to take a selfie with Acuna, putting his arm around the player before security personnel pounced.
As security worked to clear the individual from Acuna, another individual ran onto the field and rushed at Acuna, appearing to make contact with him and knocking him to the ground.
Acuna sat on the grass and handled individuals with protection. He got up in his power. Atlanta had only scored 4 runs and had a 9-4 lead before the incident.
Acuna, who did not appear to be hurt by the incident, then smiled and gave the thumbs up sign.
“You don’t want to see that happen, I know that,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “You never know what they’re going to do when they get out, it’s a scary situation.”
Colorado manager Bud Black agreed. “It’s disappointing to me that this is happening, especially in our ballpark, in our city,” he said. “It bothers me. It usually bothers me when I see it elsewhere in all sports.”
When asked more about the incident in his postgame news conference, Snitker said he didn’t see it live because he was in the bathroom. When pressed if he had seen anything like that before, he added, “Yeah, a bunch.”
Acuna is one of the National League MVP honors this season. He entered Monday batting .330 with 28 home runs and 74 RBIs and had a great game in the win.
With Atlanta’s leadoff spot out, he hit his 29th home run.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
