ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. couldn’t have asked for a better time to end his personal hitting slump and the Braves’ home losing streak.
Acuña homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Braves beat the New York Mets 5-4 on Wednesday night after blowing an early two-run lead.
Acuña’s plan was to end the game in the ninth.
“To be honest, every time one of those situations comes up I tell everybody or I tell whoever is listening that I’m going to end it, it’s over,” Acuña said through a translator.
The homer ended an 0-for-13 drought for Acuña, though he also had two walks before his ninth-inning drive.
Acuña drilled the first pitch he saw from Jacob Barnes (1-1) to center field for his NL-leading 13th homer.
“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was out,” Acuña said. “I turned and told everybody, `It’s over! It’s over!’”
Barnes had two strikeouts in the eighth before returning for a very brief ninth. He feared the worst when Acuña took a big swing.
“When he hit it, I knew there was a chance,” Barnes said. “I wasn’t sure it was out or not.”
The Mets were denied a sweep of the three-game series. Atlanta snapped a five-game losing streak in home games after dropping a season-worst four games under .500 overall.
“If there was ever a timely win, this was probably it,” manager Brian Snitker said.
Pinch-hitter Tomás Nido gave New York a 4-3 lead with a two-run single in the seventh.
The Braves pulled even in the eighth. Aaron Loup gave up three hits, including a run-scoring single by William Contreras, without getting an out. Dansby Swanson was caught stealing at third base on a strong throw by catcher James McCann for the second out of the inning.
The Mets wasted a scoring opportunity in the ninth….
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