Maikel Garcia Was Pumped to Beat Cousin Ronald Acuña Jr.'s Throw Home

Garcia wasn't going to let Acuña's throw beat him home.

Maikel Garcia beats a throw home from his cousin Ronald Acuña Jr. / Screengrab via @MLB on X/Twitter

Maikel Garcia had some extra motivation on the base paths Monday night as his Kansas City Royals took on the Atlanta Braves at Kauffman Stadium.

His cousin is Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., who happened to get the ball in right field as Garcia raced from second base and rounded for home. The play wasn't very close, as Garcia beat his cousin's throw home, but he couldn't help poking some fun at Acuña, who he grew up playing baseball in Venezuela with.

As he slid into home, he wagged his finger and let out a big smile toward right field, letting his big cousin know he got him this time. Check out the fun sequence below after the base knock from Salvador Perez:

Maikel Garcia wasn't going to let his cousin, Ronald Acuña Jr., throw him out at home 😂 pic.twitter.com/lNqrgd7jfh

— MLB (@MLB) July 29, 2025

Acuña won the next battle, though, as he smashed a 468-foot bomb to left in the top of the third inning to tie the game:

468 FEET!

Ronald Acuña Jr. hits one WAY out! pic.twitter.com/nhscbIZT5b

— MLB (@MLB) July 29, 2025

Then in the bottom half of the inning, Garcia stepped up to bat and was stung by a bee in the middle of his plate appearance. No worries, though, as he still legged out a double on what initially looked like nothing more than a single.

Maikel Garcia was stung by a bee mid-at-bat and then proceeded to hustle out a double pic.twitter.com/Ga5kPaVayw

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 29, 2025

An eventful few innings for the cousins. They're having fun out there and making their family proud while at it.

---

More MLB on Sports Illustrated

feed