WATCH: Ronald Acuna Jr. booed relentlessly as Braves star rounds bases at Citi Field vs. Mets

Ronald Acuna Jr. has led the Atlanta Braves' offense since his return from a lengthy hiatus, and the 2023 NL MVP did it again against division rivals the New York Mets on Monday.

While Ronald Acuna Jr.'s younger brother, Luis Angel, was demoted to Triple-A by the Mets ahead of the game, the Braves star continued his hot streak at the plate. The All-Star slugger blasted a solo home run off Paul Blackburn in the top of the third inning to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. It was the ninth home run of the season for the Atlanta outfielder.

Acuna Jr. drew lowd boos from the Mets crowd at the ballpark as the former MVP mimicked NBA star Ja Morant's controversial grenade celebration while rounding the bases.

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This is not the first time Ronald Acuna Jr. has been on the receiving end of boos from Mets fans. He said in 2021 that he looks forward to it and enjoys being the pantomime villain.

“I enjoy it a lot,” Acuna said. “I feel like I’m getting booed every time I go out there and I’m getting booed on the field, so I think to myself, ‘OK, I’m gonna wait until I do something. I’m gonna say something.’

“And then as soon as I hit it out, I didn’t hear anything, so it got pretty quiet. So as soon as I started around the bases, I just motioned like this [gesture] because no one was saying anything. It got real quiet after that.”

Atlanta Braves extend Mets' misery after Ronald Acuna Jr.'s blast

The Braves held onto their lead despite a two-run blast from Juan Soto making it 3-2 in the sixth inning. The Mets have now lost nine of their last ten games, while the Braves made it two wins in the last four games with a narrow win on Monday.

The Mets are now 1.5 games back of the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies, while the Braves are in third, nine games behind New York.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash