It took one pitch for the 33,268 at Turner Field to lose their minds in the bottom of the ninth Saturday night.
Christian Bethancourt, a heralded young catcher whose bat hadn’t yet shown up in a significant way in the majors, sliced a first-pitch slider over the right-field wall for a walk-off home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was his first home run in the majors.
“That’s one of the moments you dream of when you’re a kid,” Bethancourt said before Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh. “And it’s just a good feeling when you run the bases and you see everyone in the stands excited, and when you cross home plate all your teammates are out there waiting for you.”
Bethancourt excelled at the plate with Triple-A Gwinnett in 2014, hitting .283 with eight homers and 48 RBIs in 91 games. He also showed off a rocket behind the plate, catching nearly 40 percent of would-be base-stealers in his six years in the minors. Before the 2015 season, MLB.com ranked him the No. 93 minor-league prospect.
But only the arm followed him to the majors in his first 25 appearances with the Braves this season. He threw out five of 12 runners, but hit just .179 with no home runs and seven RBIs.
He broke out on Saturday night, gunning down a runner at second base and going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a homer and two RBIs.
“(Bethancourt’s) been pretty patient — keeps working and never puts his head down,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said after Saturday’s victory. “Hopefully this carries him the rest of the year. This guy belongs in the major leagues, there’s no question.”
A.J. Pierzynski got the start behind the plate Sunday afternoon.
