Gwinnett's Acuna homers on four-hit night

Ronald Acuña Jr.'s meteoric rise through the Minor Leagues has left him on the doorstep of "The Show," both literally and figuratively.
And while the top Braves prospect shouldn't be house hunting in Atlanta, having a few of the city's better realtors on speed dial might not be a bad idea

Acuna homered during his first four-hit game in the International League and plated two runs as Triple-A Gwinnett rolled past Lehigh Valley, 9-3, on Monday night at Coca-Cola Park.
It marked the fifth four-hit game of the season for MLB.com's No. 8 overall prospect, who entered the game in a 4-for-23 slump over his previous seven contests. Acuna is batting .289/.385/.556 with six extra-base hits and eight RBIs in his 12 games since being promoted to the G-Braves on July 13. 
Acuna delivered an RBI single to left field five pitches into the game and scored on Dustin Peterson's double to left. The 19-year-old reached on an infield single in the second inning, flied out to right in the fourth and blasted a solo homer -- his third on the circuit and 15th this season -- to right-center in the sixth. Acuna singled to short in the eighth to cap his fourth multi-hit game with Gwinnett.
Gameday box score
"I just get the feeling when the pitcher is about ready to release the ball, it's almost like he can tell exactly where the ball is going to go. He has that instinct, a lot like when I was over with [Ken] Griffey Jr. [with Seattle]," Gwinnett hitting coach John Moses recently told MiLB.com. "He was the same way with it, especially when he was younger. He could recognize the pitch right out of the pitcher's hand."

Signed as an international free agent in 2014, the Venezuela native has risen from the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League to Triple-A in just a little over two years. Despite being just a phone call away from the Majors, Acuna has appeared in just 194 Minor League games -- half of them coming in 2017 with Class A Advanced Florida, Double-A Mississippi and Gwinnett.
"We were all hoping he was going to get off to the start that he did and carry himself on to Double-A, and now he's in Triple-A," Moses said. "Who knows how long he's going to be here? If he keeps hitting the ball the way he's hitting, I see a bright future."
Braves No. 2 prospect Ozzie Albies went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI while No. 17 Peterson collected three hits and two walks.
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Gwinnett southpaw Andrew Albers (10-3) surrendered two runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings. He didn't issue any walks and struck out five.
Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run homer, his third in four games for Lehigh Valley. The sixth-ranked Phillies prospect is tied with teammate Dylan Cozens, the club's No. 11 prospect, for the International League lead with 23 roundtrippers.