The Braves got back in the series win column on Thursday, with the big hit coming from Ronald Acuña Jr., who mashed a grand slam over the green monster and out of the stadium.

GRAND SLAM OVER THE GREEN MONSTER FOR RONALD ACŨNA JR. 💥 pic.twitter.com/3PuU8pNy7N

— MLB (@MLB) May 28, 2026

There might not be a person in baseball who needed that more than Acuña. He’s struggled with his timing since returning from a hamstring injury and simply hasn’t looked like the MVP version of himself all season. He entered last night with just two home runs, with his last one dating all the way back to April 24th.

That’s not something we’ve been accustomed to seeing from Acuña, but this moment always felt like it was coming — and if it’s the start of one of his patented tears, the Braves aren’t going to lose many games in the near future.

Atlanta also got big performances from Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II, with both of them contributing a couple of hits including a home run.

But Thursday’s win can’t be discussed without bringing up Jorge Mateo. Coming off a two-hit game the night before, Walt Weiss put him back in the lineup at shortstop, and he delivered again — two more hits, including an RBI single that broke a scoreless tie.

Mateo hasn’t seen a ton of playing time since Ha-Seong Kim returned from the IL, but whenever Weiss has called his number, he’s produced like one of the best players on the roster. In just 19 starts this season, he has eight multi-hit games — including four in his last five starts — giving him a .324 batting average and .840 OPS.

The Braves aren’t going to completely abandon the $20 million investment they made in Kim after a couple of tough weeks. He’ll still get the bulk of the starts at shortstop going forward. But with so many players on the IL and Mateo this hot, opportunities exist to get him in the lineup — particularly against left-handed pitching. He’s earned every bit of it.

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(Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire)