Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. cementing his place as NL MVP

Acuna followed an unforgettable Thursday of getting married by then becoming the first player in MLB history with 30 home runs and 60 stolen bases in a single season with two hits, including his 31st home run of the year, on Friday in a 6-3 win over the Dodgers.

In the first two games of a four-game series, Acuna is 5-for-8 with two home runs and five runs batted in.

Entering Friday's game, Acuna had a .337 batting average, 30 home runs, 83 runs batted in and 62 stolen bases. His on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .992 ranked fifth in the majors.

As of Sept. 1, Acuna (-165) is the favorite to be named MVP.

Los Angeles is led by Mookie Betts, who's also a strong contender for NL MVP, even briefly overtaking Acuna as the betting favorite earlier this week, but the first two rounds of their heavyweight fight have gone to Acuna. Betts was great himself on Thursday with two home runs but was held in check on Friday with an 0-for-3 night.

That was a minor blip in what's turned into Betts' best season since he won AL MVP in 2018. He ranks in the top 10 in the league in batting average (.317), home runs (38), runs batted in (98) and OPS (1.034).

An MVP with the Dodgers would be nearly unprecedented. Betts would become just the second player in MLB history to win MVP in both leagues, joining Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.

As great as he's been this year, Acuna's historic season will likely be what separates him when votes are cast. If MVP voters are on the fence, his head-to-head edge over the previous two games should do the trick.