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Phillie Phanatic Goes Viral For Putting Failed Hex on Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr.

Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a home run to lift the Atlanta Braves over the Philadelphia Phillies after the opposing mascot messed with him in the batter's box.
Sam Connon|
Phillie Phanatic Goes Viral For Putting Failed Hex on Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr.
Phillie Phanatic Goes Viral For Putting Failed Hex on Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr.

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Philadelphia PhilliesAtlanta Braves

With all the winning the Atlanta Braves have done this year, it's hard to blame other teams for trying something out-of-the-box to slow them down.

The Philadelphia Phillies' notoriously disruptive mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, attempted to put a hex on superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. while he was in the batter's box on Monday.

After messing around with the Phanatic and pretending to take him deep for a home run, Acuña did it for real in the sixth inning against right-handed reliever Andrew Bellatti. Acuña crushed a no-doubt solo home run to left to put Atlanta up 8-4, going back-to-back with center fielder Michael Harris II in the process.

The Braves went on to win 10-8 in extra innings in the first half of Monday's double-header at Citizen's Bank Park. Acuña finished the game 2-for-5 with two RBI, a walk and a stolen base.

Acuña is now batting .336 with a 1.007 OPS on the season. He is up to 36 home runs, 95 RBI and 65 stolen bases in 2023, putting together a stat line that has never been seen before in MLB history. Acuña is still the odds-on favorite to win NL MVP, even if Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts appears to be closing the massive gap that had existed since well before the All-Star break.

As for the Phillie Phanatic, Acuña's unprecedented production is unlikely to prevent any future mockery or hexes.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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