Ozzie Albies was 2-for-20 through the first four games, which wasn’t a concern given the small sample size but was something that the Braves’ plucky second baseman and their hitting coach wanted to nip in the bud before it became anything significant.
And that’s what he did Tuesday night in Game 5, going 3-for-5 with a double in the Braves’ 13-6 win against the Nationals that evened the series at a game apiece.
“I felt better out there today,” Albies said. “I was just rushing myself. Just get better ABs (at-bats), that’s it.”
Batting second, as usual, behing Ender Inciarte and in front of slugger Freddie Freeman, Albies got a four-run first inning started with a one-out single. And he drove in the first run of a four-run second inning with another single, before Freeman’s three-run homer gave the Braves an 8-4 lead.
“Huge,” Freeman said of Albies’ performance. “It’s only been four games; everybody knew he was going to start hitting. With him and Ender at the top of the lineup, they’re a big sparkplug. Ozzie getting big hits and getting on base and creating some havoc out there was big.”
Albies’ third hit was a two-out double in the fifth inning on a 12-pitch at-bat against reliever Enny Romero. Freeman followed with a single to drive him in.
And with that, Albies had more hits in the first five innings Tuesday than he’d had in the first four games of the season.
Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer had all but predicted it during batting practice before the game, saying that Albies had been getting too anxious at the plate with the Braves scoring a lot of runs and him not being his customary big part of the offense.
“He’s pressing a little bit right now,” Seitzer said. “He had a great spring, but everybody’s banging and you want to be a part of it, then you start trying harder to get your hits too, and then things can unravel a little bit. He’s just got to calm down, settle into things, do what he does best.
“We looked at some video today, had a conversation, did some extra work in the cage. I’m excited to see what he does tonight. He’s a tough little son of a gun, I tell you. That’s one thing, he ain’t afraid of nothing.”
After Albies’ three-hit game, Braves manager Brian Snitker didn’t seem at all surprised.
“They went to work today,” he said. “They were here early, Seitz and him, watching film and in the cage. They saw some things (Ozzie) was doing and you know, the encouraging thing about Oz was I saw him when he came up early last year, he has the ability to make adjustments. He’s an intelligent kid, great baseball instinct. Like I said, they were here early working and it’s good to see it pay off.”
