Oh yeah, the game ended in a Swing-Off as well. Exciting times!
Atlanta Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. picked up a hit and scored a run for the National League, as the NL went on to make history with their victory in the 95th edition of the MLB All-Star Game. They defeated the American League in the first-ever Swing-Off in order to end the night as the winners.
Acuña’s night began on a high note after in a last-minute decision, NL All-Star manager Dave Roberts moved Acuña over to right field despite having been penciled in for left field. The fans in attendance were definitely excited to see that, as the crowd loudly responded to Acuña running out to his usual spot of right field at Truist Park.
It didn’t take long for the NL to get going, which is pretty impressive considering that the AL had reigning AL Cy Young Award winner (and the frontrunner to win it again here in 2025) Tarik Skubal starting for them in this one. Shohei Ohtani got things going with a leadoff single and then it was Acuña’s turn to bat.
As expected, the hometown fans showered praise and appreciation for their hometown star and he responded in kind by doing something that we’ve seen a million times from him: He hit an infield single to get on. Ketel Marte eventually got a pitch that he liked from Skubal that he slapped towards right field for a go-ahead double. Acuña burned around the basepaths to score and the NL had the early lead at 2-0 after one inning.
That ended up being all the offense for Acuña for the night, as he finished the evening with one hit, one run and a strikeout before bowing out in favor of Fernando Tatis Jr. Acuña talked with the media after making his exit and stated that he was “grateful and happy” to be able to represent the Braves in front of his home club. He also reiterated once again that he’d love to be here for the rest of his career. Considering the energy that was inside of the building for this one once Acuña came up to the plate, it’s totally understandable that it’s the type of thing that would make you wanna stay somewhere forever.
Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images
As far as Atlanta’s other representative for this game, Matt Olson entered the game as a substitute in the top of the seventh inning, as the hometown kid got another chance to throw on the hometown uniform and play for his hometown team in his hometown stadium. If you were expecting him to improve upon his close-but-no-cigar performance during Monday night’s Home Run Derby, you’ll have to wait for him to hopefully get another chance to improve upon it in the future since Olson didn’t have the greatest of nights in his latest All-Star appearance.
Olson finished the night with a strikeout in his lone plate appearance and he also committed an error that allowed fellow Home Run Derby competitor Jazz Chisholm Jr. to reach base. Fortunately it didn’t amount to anything for the American League but this was after they had scored four runs to get themselves back into the game at 6-4. Olson eventually made up for his error once the ninth inning rolled around, as he pulled off a spectacular defensive play at first in order to get a measure of revenge on Chisholm for the booted ball earlier on.
In fact, Olson was left stranded on deck as the potential walk-off run for the National League after Aroldis Chapman sat down the NL All-Stars in order in the ninth inning. While we were spared of seeing the cool scenario of Matt Olson coming up to the plate with the game on the line, this did give us all the opportunity to see the first-ever Swing-Off in All-Star Game history since this was right about the time everybody remembered that extra innings was no longer a thing for the All-Star Game.
This seemed like it would’ve been an ideal opportunity for Olson to take some more swings, but instead manager Dave Roberts went with Kyle Stowers, Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso as his three hitters — all three divisional rivals for the Braves in their own ballpark, mind you. Anyways, the thrilling conclusion ended up going the NL’s way, as Kyle Schwarber clinched the MVP performance by taking all three of his swings deep over the fence. The NL came away as winners, Schwarber came away as the MVP and a thrilling few days in Atlanta came to an incredibly unique conclusion.
The swing that won the #AllStarGame pic.twitter.com/R9RsUH1VmB
— MLB (@MLB) July 16, 2025
As far as the performance from the two local players went, each guy had their moments. Acuña certainly deserves some props for giving the home fans something to cheer for with his infield single and run scored in the first inning and Olson lived up to his reputation with his strong defensive play near the end of the game. We got to see what both players are good at and hopefully we’ll continue to see more of it as the season progresses.
All-in-all, it was an unforgettable night at Truist Park and a badly-needed oasis during this wacky 2025 season for the Braves. Atlanta will be back in action at Truist Park this Friday at 7:15 p.m. ET, as the Yankees roll into town for the start of a three-game series. For now, enjoy the break, y’all.