Braves OF Ronald Acuña Jr. departs with abdominal strain

CHICAGO (AP) — Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. left Sunday night's 13-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs after experiencing pain in his lower abdominal muscles.

Acuña led off the fourth with a walk. Kyle Hendricks threw over a couple times while he was on first, and it looked as if Acuña did something to his midsection on a dive back to the bag.

He was checked by a trainer while he was on second, but he stayed in. He got up slowly after diving home to score on Travis d'Arnaud's sacrifice fly, and then was replaced in the field in the bottom half.

“He’s got an abdominal strain, and we’ll know more tomorrow,” manager Brian Snitker said.

Snitker said he isn’t sure if Acuña is going to need a stint on the injured list.

“It was so late here that they couldn’t get the test that they wanted, so they’ll get it tomorrow in New York and, like I said, we’ll know more then,” he said.

Acuña is off to a terrific start this year, batting .419 with seven homers and 16 RBIs in 16 games. The outfielder also has scored a major league-high 21 runs.

“I think I really just felt sorry for him in general, you know, because of the start he's had to the season and the way he has kind of taken off,” outfielder Guillermo Heredia said through a translator.

The reigning NL East champions have been hit hard by injuries during a rough start to the season. Pitchers Max Fried, Drew Smyly and Sean Newcomb and outfielders Cristian Pache and Ender Inciarte have been placed on the 10-day IL since Wednesday.

“Obviously there's a team that it happens to every year and unfortunately that's us at the moment,” pitcher Bryse Wilson said. “Hopefully we can just bounce back and continue to fill the spots.”

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