Latest news with #MarcellOzuna


Reuters
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Braves, without injured Ronald Acuna Jr., seek series win over Royals
July 30 - A disappointing season continues to get bleaker for the Atlanta Braves. As All-Star Ronald Acuna Jr. heads to the injured list, the Braves must try to rebound from their latest defeat. They will visit the Kansas City Royals, who finally have some consistent offense, in the rubber game of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon. With fellow star Marcell Ozuna the subject of persistent trade rumors leading up to the Thursday trade deadline, the Braves sit 16 games under .500 and have lost eight of their past 10 games. Their season got even worse when Acuna left in the sixth inning Tuesday of a 9-6 loss because of Achilles tightness. Braves manager Brian Snitker announced after the game that Acuna, who homered Monday during a 10-7 win over the Royals and is batting .306, will go on the 10-day IL. Acuna said he hurt himself scoring from first base on Monday but felt well enough to start Tuesday. "It's an injury. I'm worried," Acuna said through an interpreter. "They are going to examine me (Wednesday), and we'll see how it goes." Ozuna, meanwhile, has two home runs and five RBIs in the series, but it's uncertain if he still will be wearing a Braves uniform at the end of the week. Despite their current state, the Braves can still win their first series since July 11-13. Claimed off waivers on July 11 after being designated for assignment by the Minnesota Twins, left-hander Joey Wentz (2-2, 5.76 ERA) will make his third start for the Braves, who are plagued by a depleted rotation. On his fourth team since debuting in 2022, Wentz threw four scoreless innings in his first Atlanta start July 19, pitching in his team's 12-9 loss to the New York Yankees. Then on Friday at Texas, he yielded four runs (three earned) and four hits over 4 1/3 innings in an 8-3 setback. Wentz has faced the Royals six times (two starts) in his career and has a 1-0 record and 4.86 ERA. Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr is 0-for-7 against Wentz. However, Witt had two RBI singles Tuesday and is batting .303 during an eight-game hitting streak. Kansas City sits two games under .500 and still ranks in the bottom half of the majors in runs (392), batting (.245), slugging percentage (.384), on-base percentage (.301) and home runs (92), but the team has 16 homers and has averaged 6.2 runs during a current 6-3 stretch. On Tuesday, Kyle Isbel's three-run double highlighted a five-run sixth inning and Vinnie Pasquantino homered for one of his three hits. "We're just competing every single pitch. The energy is there every single night," Isbel told FanDuel Sports Network. "We're just giving our all every day." Pasquantino has three home runs and eight RBIs in his past six games. The Royals, also dealing with injuries to their rotation, appear slated for a bullpen game Wednesday. They will start reliever Angel Zerpa (3-1, 4.15 ERA), who pitched one scoreless inning against the New York Mets on July 12. He has made 44 relief appearances for the season. Right-hander Thomas Hatch, called up from Triple-A Omaha after Kansas City designated 45-year-old Rich Hill for assignment Tuesday, could make his first major league appearance since 2023 in the series finale. He has a 4-4 career record and a 4.96 ERA in 39 games (six starts) with the Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates. --Field Level Media
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Trade proposal has the Astros linked to Braves' $65 million All-Star
The MLB trade deadline is coming down to its last two days for the 2025 season, and the Houston Astros have emerged as a team that's buying. Houston is looking to add some offense to their team, as it will be getting multiple pitchers back from injury before the start of the postseason. There have been many players linked to the Astros, including a third baseman to help fill the gap that Isaac Paredes left after going down with a hamstring strain, and Yordan Alvarez, who is still rehabbing a fractured right hand. The Atlanta Braves' designated hitter, Marcell Ozuna, has emerged as a possible trade candidate for the Astros, according to Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle. "It's easy to point to Ozuna as a possibility for the Astros, because of general manager Dana Brown's connection to Atlanta. He was the Braves' vice president of scouting when Atlanta signed Ozuna as a free agent in 2020... At the plate, he's the kind of hitter the Astros prefer. Although he's right-handed, he's extremely patient with a 16.2% walk percentage that is among the tops in baseball," Young mentioned. The three-time All-Star has emerged as a trade candidate when he started to struggle at the plate before he lost his designated hitter spot to the Braves' Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin. At 34 years old, Ozuna has a .233 batting average, .361 on-base percentage, and a .754 OPS while hitting 14 home runs and 67 RBI in 96 games this season. If Marcell Ozuna is traded to the Astros, he would be used as a rental player. His four-year, $65 million deal expires at the end of the season.


Washington Post
a day ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Acuña, Ozuna and Riley homer as Braves end 5-game skid and Royals tie club mark with 14 walks
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ronald Acuña Jr., Marcell Ozuna and Austin Riley homered as the Atlanta Braves snapped a five-game losing streak with a 10-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals, who equaled a club record by walking 14 batters Monday night. It was the fourth time the Royals walked 14 and the first since 2006.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Acuña, Ozuna and Riley homer as Braves end 5-game skid and Royals tie club mark with 14 walks
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr., Marcell Ozuna and Austin Riley homered as the Atlanta Braves snapped a five-game losing streak with a 10-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals, who equaled a club record by walking 14 batters Monday night. It was the fourth time the Royals walked 14 and the first since 2006. Acuña hit a two-run homer, his 14th, in the third and an inning later Ozuna added another two-run shot, also his 14th. Riley hit a solo homer, his 15th, in the seventh — and his three-run double in the eighth made it 9-3. Spencer Strider (5-8) pitched five innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Raisel Iglesias squelched a Royals rally in the ninth for his 12th save. Six of Kansas City's walks were issued by Rich Hill (0-2), who went four innings and gave up four runs and four hits. It was the second start of 2025 for the 45-year-old Hill after making his season debut with the Royals last Tuesday. It was also Hill's 250th career start and 388th appearance in his 21st season. Randal Grichuk hit his eighth homer, his first with the Royals since being acquired from Arizona on Saturday. Bobby Witt Jr. hit two doubles and leads the majors with 36. Maikel Garcia had two doubles among his three hits. Royals catcher Salvador Perez was hit on the left elbow by a pitch in the third and later left the game with a bruise. Key moment After the Royals scored two runs with none out in the ninth, Iglesias came in and gave up a sacrifice fly before securing the victory. Key stat The Braves had nine hits, six for extra bases. Up next RHP Erick Fedde (3-10, 5.22 ERA) makes his Braves debut when he faces Royals RHP Seth Lugo (7-5, 2.95) on Tuesday. ___ AP MLB:


Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Acuña, Ozuna and Riley homer as Braves end 5-game skid and Royals tie club mark with 14 walks
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Ronald Acuña Jr., Marcell Ozuna, and Austin Riley homered as the Atlanta Braves snapped a five-game losing streak with a 10-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals, who equaled a club record by walking 14 batters Monday night. It was the fourth time the Royals walked 14 and the first since 2006. Acuña hit a two-run homer, his 14th, in the third, and an inning later Ozuna added another two-run shot, also his 14th. Riley hit a solo homer, his 15th, in the seventh – and his three-run double in the eighth made it 9-3. Spencer Strider (5-8) pitched five innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Raisel Iglesias squelched a Royals rally in the ninth for his 12th save. Six of Kansas City's walks were issued by Rich Hill (0-2), who went four innings and gave up four runs and four hits. It was the second start of 2025 for the 45-year-old Hill after making his season debut with the Royals last Tuesday. It was also Hill's 250th career start and 388th appearance in his 21st season. Randal Grichuk hit his eighth homer, his first with the Royals since being acquired from Arizona on Saturday. Bobby Witt Jr. hit two doubles and leads the majors with 36. Maikel Garcia had two doubles among his three hits. Royals catcher Salvador Perez was hit on the left elbow by a pitch in the third and later left the game with a bruise. Key moment: After the Royals scored two runs with none out in the ninth, Iglesias came in and gave up a sacrifice fly before securing the victory. Key stat: The Braves had nine hits, six for extra bases.