The Buzz — Sunday, September 13

Ronald Acuña Jr.

The take Acuña HR heroics trolling Phillies in Braves wins

The rivalry theater is real, but the standings are what make it stick. On September 6, Acuña's 1,000th career hit was a three-run, game-tying shot off a 100.5 mph fastball — the kind of swing that flips a game and a series. He joined Hank Aaron as the only Brave with 1,000 hits, 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases. Six days later he went 3-for-3 and homered again in a 12-2 rout.

The slow trot and hands over ears were performance, not accident. What settles the argument is the sustained damage: .378 with four home runs and a 1.184 OPS in 12 games against Philadelphia this year, and .478 with a 1.500 OPS in six games this month. The Braves led by five after the first rally, by six with the tiebreaker clinched after the second. The villain act works because the back of the baseball card is too.

Ronald Acuña Jr. cards on eBay →(paid link)

Garrett Mitchell

The take Mitchell 4-hit 4-RBI HR powers Brewers 13-9 Reds win

The Brewers scored 33 runs across two games against the Reds — the most in any two-game stretch in franchise history — and Mitchell is the one who kept the engine running both nights. He went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer and four RBIs in Saturday's 13-9 win, staking the 4-0 lead in the first and adding a two-RBI double in the five-run fifth. He also drove in four in the 20-0 clincher Friday.

The full-season line — .269, 11 home runs, 65 RBIs in 424 at-bats — says this is a regular producing at career highs in games played, not a flash. Milwaukee's magic number is at three. The runs came easy because a first-place team was applying pressure from the first inning on.

Garrett Mitchell cards on eBay →(paid link)

Michael Arroyo

The take Arroyo first HR and multi-hit in Mariners 19-1 rout

A prospect who debuted September 6 and went 0-for-3 has already found the seats. Arroyo went 3-for-4 Saturday, falling a triple short of a cycle, with a 418-foot solo shot to left-center for his first major league home run. The Mariners hung 23 hits and 19 runs on the Athletics — their biggest victory margin ever — so the night was a team-wide eruption, not a prospect carrying the offense. But a top prospect who takes six days from an 0-for-3 debut to a near-cycle is adjusting fast, and that is the part worth tracking when the score stops being funny.

Michael Arroyo cards on eBay →(paid link)

Rafael Devers

The take hottest hitter after another home run

The streak is real, and it is not a hot week — it is a hot month. As of September 8, Devers was batting .421 with nine homers and 22 RBIs over his past 15 games. Before that, he entered a September 5 game hitting .413 over his previous 12 with seven home runs, then hit two more that night. He joined Barry Bonds and Willie Mays as the only Giants with six-plus homers and seven-plus walks in a six-game span.

The power kept coming. A grand slam for his 36th on Friday, then his 37th on Saturday — back-to-back games with homers against the Padres. He is now the first Giant with 35 doubles and 35 home runs in a season since Jeff Kent in 2002.

Here is where this lands: 37 home runs, one shy of his career high, and 98 RBIs, with 13 games remaining. The last Giant to reach 40 was Bonds in 2004. The last to drive in 100 was Posey in 2012. Devers is going to pass at least one of those marks and probably both, and the crowd calling him the hottest hitter in the game is not wrong — they are just leaving out the franchise history he is about to crash into.

Rafael Devers cards on eBay →(paid link)

Francisco Lindor

The take Lindor multi-homer powers Mets Subway Series rout

A leadoff homer in the first and a grand slam in the eighth — that is a player grabbing both ends of a game and squeezing. Lindor finished Saturday with three hits, two home runs and five RBIs in the Mets' 12-2 win at Yankee Stadium. The leadoff shot was his fifth of the season and 36th of his career; the slam was his eighth career grand slam, completing his 24th career multi-homer game.

The Mets hit six home runs total and collected 13 hits, and rookie Zac Thornton gave up two runs over seven innings to close the door. This was the Subway Series, and the crowd will remember the noise. What settled it was a leadoff hitter who produced like a lineup.

Francisco Lindor cards on eBay →(paid link)