Major League Baseball

Ronald Acuña Jr., Mookie Betts continue heated NL MVP battle

Updated Sep. 4, 2023 12:54 a.m. ET

Atlanta's Ronald Acuña Jr. homered for the third straight night in the Braves' 4-2 win at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, before Mookie Betts shined on Sunday, guiding the Dodgers to a 3-1 win in the final game of the series between the two teams.

And with that, the battle for NL MVP between the two superstars appears set to drag on.

Acuña’s 454-foot drive to center field Saturday came off his bat like a rocket at an astounding 121.2 mph — the hardest-hit ball in the majors this year.

"I never imagined that was going to be the exit velocity on it," Acuña said through a translator. "But yeah, I hit it hard."

It was also the third-hardest-hit homer and sixth-hardest-hit ball in the majors since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

His teammates joked with him in the dugout about his power.

"They asked if that was all I had, and I said, ‘I think so,’" Acuña said.

With Saturday's win, the Braves (90-46) became the first major league club to reach 90 wins this season. They had won six in a row before falling to L.A. on Sunday.

After three games in the four-game series, Acuña was clearly outshining Betts in their unofficial NL MVP showcase, especially after Betts went 0-for-4 with a walk and scored once on Saturday.

While it appeared that Acuña was running away with the NL MVP award for most of the season, Betts charged forward with a remarkable August campaign. He hit .455 with 51 hits and 11 home runs, and the Dodgers went 24-5 for the month.

Betts was up and down in the four-game series with Atlanta. On Aug. 31, he hit two home runs and collected four RBIs in an 8-7 loss. On Sept. 1 and 2, he went hitless with one run and four strikeouts.

On Sunday, Betts went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

In the first three games of the series, Acuña had six hits, three homers, six RBIs and had struck out only once. On Sunday, he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.