PITTSBURGH – If the Braves are to keep their damaged NL East division-title hopes alive, they know they need significantly improved results on a 10-game trip that began Monday than what they got during the 0-8 debacle of a trip that ended Aug. 6.
One big key to making that happen could be Justin Upton.
The Braves left fielder went 10-for-31 (.323) four home runs and 11 RBIs on the 10-game homestand that ended Sunday, with nine walks and a .475 OBP. He’s hit .320 with 16 homers and a .621 slugging percentage in 63 home games, compared to .246 with seven homers and a .408 slugging percentage in 55 road games before Monday’s series opener at Pittsburgh.
Upton went 4-for-23 (.174) with two RBIs and nine strikeouts in the last six games of the Braves’ 0-8 trip that ended Aug. 6. However, in his previous 16 road games he sizzled at a .348 clip (23-for-66) with six doubles, three homers, 15 RBIs and a .576 slugging percentage. The Braves went 9-7 in those games.
He entered Monday’s game on a roll, after hitting a two-run homer and a single against Jon Lester in Sunday’s 4-3 Braves win against the Athletics. That raised his average to .388 (19-for-49) against 2014 All-Star pitchers, which, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, was the third-highest average in the majors (minimum 40 at-bats) against this year’s All-Stars, behind Matt Adams (.476) and Jose Altuve (.441).
Upton’s 16 homers at Turner Field also ranked him second in the majors in home runs in home games before Monday, behind Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton, who had 21 of his majors-leading 32 homers at spacious Marlins Park.
But Upton showed earlier not long ago that he can do it on the road, too. And with a six-game deficit in the NL East and 38 games to play before Monday, the Braves could obviously use it again now in a big way.
