Consider Ronald Acuna the Braves’ savior.
The All-Star outfielder smashed his first career walk-off homer Wednesday to lead the Braves past the Mets 5-4 at Truist Park. They avoided being swept by the team sitting in first place in their division. If the Braves had lost, they would have been five games behind the Mets. Instead, they leave a disappointing series only three games back.
“If ever there was a timely win, this was probably it,” manager Brian Snitker said immediately afterwards.
Here’s what a giddy Acuna said following his third walk-off hit (via team interpreter Franco Garcia):
On his mindset entering the at-bat:
“Every time one of those situations comes up, I tell everybody it’s over. I’m going to end it right here. Whether it happens or doesn’t happen, I say it regardless. Thankfully tonight it worked out. As soon as I hit it, I knew it was out, so I looked at everybody and said, ‘It’s over. It’s over.’”
On the feeling of hitting a walk-off blast:
“It’s hard to compare. Maybe you could say it’s like going 4-for-4, but it’s a feeling you can’t describe. It’s incredible to walk it off and be with your team. The most important thing is we won the game as a team. Even though this was my first walk-off home run, the big takeaway for me is the win.”
On his excitement:
“I’m still super excited. It was an awesome feeling and everything. My mentality is that I’m going to end the game. When it’s my turn up there, I’m doing it. Even if it doesn’t work out, I have the utmost confidence that (Freddie) Freeman, (Marcell) Ozuna and the rest of the lineup is going to take care of business. I have all the confidence in us. But I’m really excited it happened the way it did.”
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