ATLANTA - Ronald Acuña Jr. said he had never before failed to hustle out of the batter's box.
Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker's bold move was intended to make sure the 21-year-old All-Star outfielder never lets it happen again.
With Acuña banished for styling instead of sprinting on a deep fly ball, Rafael Ortega stepped up with a sixth-inning grand slam that lifted Atlanta to a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. The Braves won two of three in the series between National League division leaders, getting the best of the team that eliminated them from the postseason's divisional round last year.
Acuña was pulled before the fifth inning after failing to run out a drive to right field in the third. The ball bounced off the wall for a long single, and Acuña almost certainly would have had an easy double if he had hustled from home plate.
"He didn't run. You've got to run," Snitker said. "It's not going to be acceptable here. As a teammate you're responsible for 24 other guys. That name on the front is a lot more important than the name on the back of that jersey. You can't do that.
"We're trying to accomplish something and do something special here, and personal things have got to be put on the back burner. You just can't let your team down like that."
Rafael Ortega celebrates at home plate with Atlanta Braves teammates Matt Joyce, left, and Brian McCann after hitting a grand slam during the sixth inning of Sunday's 5-3 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers.Snitker followed Acuña into the tunnel for a conversation during the fourth inning before Adam Duvall entered the game in left field in the fifth, with Ortega moving from left to center. Snitker said he made an immediate decision to pull Acuña out of the game but waited one inning so Duvall would have time to warm up.
"That was the decision the manager took, and I respect his decision," Acuña said through a translator, adding his lack of hustle "was unintentional."
The 2018 NL rookie of the year said he "obviously wasn't thinking, and that was the action I took. It's never happened before."
The move came with Atlanta trailing 3-1 in a high-spotlight game, and Acuña is hitting .296 with 35 home runs and 85 RBIs and leads the NL with 29 stolen bases and 104 runs scored. Snitker said there will be no impact on Acuña's starting job.
Ortega, recalled from the minors on Tuesday, made the most of only his second start with the Braves with the first grand slam of his MLB career coming against Dustin May.
"I was just trying to just focus on trying to make good contact with the ball," Ortega said through a translator.
May (1-2) couldn't hold a 3-1 lead for the West leaders. He walked Brian McCann, gave up a single to Matt Joyce and hit Adeiny Hechavarría with a pitch to load the bases. Ortega's homer landed in the Atlanta bullpen.
May, adjusting to a new bullpen role, said he was "a little amped up, a little excited."
"You still have to go out and execute," he said. "I didn't execute well today really on any pitch. Only room for improvement from here."
Said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts: "This is a learning process. My faith, my confidence in Dustin hasn't wavered, and Dustin is absolutely going to be more than fine."
Dodgers rookie Tony Gonsolin, recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, allowed one run on five hits in four innings.
Braves left-hander Max Fried couldn't extend his streak of wins in five straight starts. He lasted five innings despite giving up a three-run shot in the first to Cody Bellinger, who leads the majors with 42 homers.
Acuña briefly had Bellinger's ball in his glove as he reached over the center-field wall. The homer, which followed singles by Justin Turner and Will Smith, fell out of Acuña's glove when his wrist hit the top of the wall. Acuña's disappointment showed when he tossed his glove to the warning track while Bellinger ran around the bases.
Fried doubled off the right-field wall to lead off the third. After Acuña followed with his long single, he was thrown out by rookie catcher Will Smith when trying to steal second. Acuña is still one steal away from a 30-30 season.
Atlanta's Anthony Swarzak (3-3), Chris Martin, Shane Greene and Mark Melancon combined for four scoreless innings.
Melancon pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save this year as Atlanta maintained its 5 1/2-game lead in the NL East. The second-place Washington Nationals matched a team record by hitting eight home runs while beating the Milwaukee Brewers 16-8, their sixth win in their past seven games and their ninth in their past 12.