KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. was removed from Tuesday night's loss at Kansas City with tightness in his right Achilles tendon and will be placed on the 10-day injured list.
Acuña experienced the discomfort after chasing down a ball in right field. He'll be evaluated further on Wednesday.
“It's an Achilles thing, it's going to take a while,” manager Brian Snitker said after the Braves fell 9-6 to the Royals. “He'll go on the IL and hopefully in 10 days or so it'll clear up.”
Acuña said he initially felt pain while running the bases on Monday night.
“It happened when I scored from first to home on that play,” Acuña said through an interpreter. “They are going to examine me tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.”
The discomfort returned after Acuña ran for a foul ball in the sixth inning Tuesday night. Later in the inning, a ball was hit over his head and he gave chase. He left the game after the sixth.
“It was hurting even more,” Acuña said. “I was kind of out there hoping they wouldn’t hit it my way and of course any time you do that, they always hit it your way.”
Acuña said the pain was worse than it was on Monday.
“I told them yesterday and everyone said, ‘Take the day if you want it, you can have the day off,’” Acuña said. “I've missed so much time already through injuries I didn't want to miss any more time.”
The five-time All-Star and 2023 National League MVP missed most of last season with a torn left ACL.
“It's an injury, I'm worried,” Acuña said. “It's more pain, but it feels kind of, I feel it a lot when I try to put pressure on it.”
The Braves (45-61) have dealt with numerous injuries during their disappointing season.
“It's just like, Ozzie (Albies) hit a ball into the dirt and it went in his eye,” Snitker said. “I was worried that that was an oblique the way he reacted there. I don't know, it's just one of those things, you just have to deal with it. It's not fun dealing with it, not easy dealing with it, but you just have to.”
Acuña walked off the field before a trainer followed him into the locker room.
Acuña is batting .306 with 14 homers and 26 RBIs in 55 games this season. He went 2 for 4 with a homer on Monday night.
Snitker said Eli White will play right field in Acuña's absence.
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Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. celebrates after scoring on a three-run double hit by Austin Riley during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Monday, July 28, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday asked lawmakers to approve reforms to the oil industry that would open the doors to greater foreign investment during her first state of the union speech less than two weeks after its longtime leader was toppled by the United States.
Rodríguez, who has been under pressure by the Trump administration to fall in line with its vision for the oil-rich nation, said sales of Venezuelan oil would go to bolster crisis-stricken health services, economic development and other infrastructure projects.
She outlined a distinct vision for the future, straying from her predecessors, who have long railed against American intervention in Venezeula. “Let us not be afraid of diplomacy” with the U.S., said Rodriguez, the former vice president who must now navigate competing pressures from the Trump administration and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.
The speech, which was broadcast on a delay in Venezuela, came one day after Rodríguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster.
On Thursday, Trump met at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.
Rodríguez, who had a call with Trump earlier this week, said Wednesday evening on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.
The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the U.S. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the U.S., to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.
American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to U.S. meddling in its affairs.
For the foreseeable future, Rodríguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodríguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.
Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodríguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”
Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.
Before Rodríguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
