Ronald Acuna Jr. was handed one of the strangest home runs of the season Thursday night when a 390-foot fly ball to left center turned into his 10th homer after two Marlins outfielders collided and knocked the ball over the fence. The umpires waited through a brief delay before signaling home run, and the Braves were suddenly up 2-0 in the third inning.
It happened at Truist Park on Thursday, Aug. 6, when Heriberto Hernandez and Esteury Ruiz both rushed toward a drive that looked headed for the wall. They ran into each other, and Ruiz flipped the ball over the fence and into the seats while Acuna stood at first base looking for an explanation. The ruling fit Rule 5.05(a), which awards a home run when a fair fly is deflected over the fence in fair territory.
That rule matters because the ball was still in the air when it struck the defenders. Had it bounced first, it would have been scored a ground-rule double instead. The difference was not academic. It changed the game state immediately, and it gave Atlanta a two-run edge before the inning was over.
The oddity also put the play in a small line of baseball deflections that have produced home runs without the batter clearing the wall on his own. Carlos Martinez once watched a deep fly glance off Jose Canseco and leave the yard in 1993, and Kevin Kiermaier saw a drive at Fenway bounce off Hunter Renfroe and carry into the bullpen in the 2021 divisional playoff series. This one belonged to Acuna, though, and it was the kind of ruling that can feel backward until the rule book catches up with the bounce.
The only unresolved part came after the call itself. The game went into a rain delay after the bottom of the third inning, leaving the night’s final shape hanging behind a ruling that was already settled. For Atlanta, the important fact was simple: a fly ball that should have been routine became a home run, and the scoreboard changed with it.
