On the day the Mets announced they sent his brother back down to the minors, Ronald Acuña Jr. got his revenge.
Acuña homered in the third inning of Atlanta’s 3-2 win over the Mets at Citi Field, just hours after the Mets announced his younger brother, Luisangel, had been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse after losing playing time at the major league level, replaced by Travis Jankowski.
But the elder Acuña brother insisted that wasn’t a motivating factor.
“It’s a business,’’ Ronald Acuña said through an interpreter. “We all understand. I’m not gonna lie, I would love to see my brother here and be up here with the team. But the most important thing for me, personally, was that we won tonight’s game.”
The Mets made the move with Luisangel Acuña because there wasn’t much of a role for him with Jeff McNeil playing regularly at second base and Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio splitting time at third — and Francisco Lindor obviously entrenched at shortstop.
And while seeing his brother demoted — a week after the two faced off when the Mets were in Atlanta a week ago — might not have lit a fire under Ronald Acuña, the harsh treatment from the Citi Field crowd definitely did.
He was booed throughout the night and seems to be on his way to filling the role that former Brave Chipper Jones had during his career when he tormented the Queens faithful.
“Honestly, it feels good,’’ Acuña said of getting it from the crowd. “It feels like whenever I hear those boos, it’s hard to describe. It’s almost like I get more confidence.”
Acuña brings some of it on himself.
After homering off Paul Blackburn in the third, Acuña did what’s become his typical home run trot, from mimicking a toss of a grenade and covering his ears, to flapping his arms and dancing around the bases.
And if early results are any indication, Acuña may be tormenting the Mets and their faithful a lot this season.
Atlanta has won the first four meetings between the two teams and Acuña has hit them — and everyone else — hard since returning last month after his 2024 season ended in May with a torn ACL.
He made his season debut on May 23 this year and entered Monday with the second-best OPS in the majors (1.202), trailing only Seattle’s Cal Raleigh (1.207).
And he’s getting on base at a .504 clip, tops in the sport.
“Everything he’s done since he’s been back, you don’t see that in a player that’s missed that much time,’’ Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “His whole game is great: His defense and he’s starting to run a little bit now. When he’s playing his game, man, it’s fun to watch.”
Mets fans might disagree.
