It took a lot of work for Adonis Garcia just to make it to the major leagues. A series of circumstances had him batting fifth for the Braves against the Cardinals on Saturday.
It seemed unlikely he’d have much influence on the game’s outcome when he led off the sixth inning. He had just six big-league at-bats to his credit and Cardinals All-Star Michael Wacha was on the mound.
But then Wacha threw Garcia the pitch he was expecting, a fastball away. Garcia smacked it into the bullpen beyond the wall in right-center field and quieted the sellout crowd at Busch Stadium that couldn’t have expected that.
The Braves went on to win 3-2 behind their 30-year old rookie’s first career home run.
“I accomplished my dream of getting here to the big leagues and now I’m twice as happy I hit my first home run,” Garcia said through an interpretation by Braves coach Horacio Ramirez. “I’m just happy I was able to help the team win.”
The Braves (46-52) ended their losing streak at three games and avoided the sweep. They went a combined 3-3 against the Dodgers and Cardinals, the top two teams in the NL.
Garcia had the only home run of the series for the Braves and just the third hit for extra bases. The shot just cleared the fence as right fielder Jason Heyward made a jumping attempt to catch it.
“I was just running until I saw the ball clear the fence,” Garcia said. “I wasn’t taking anything for granted.”
The one-run lead was enough for rookie starter Matt Wisler and the bullpen. Wisler (5-1) made it through seven innings and relievers Arodys Vizcaino and Jim Johnson upheld the advantage over the final two.
Garcia is no ordinary rookie. He played for seven seasons in Cuba’s top league before leaving the country in 2011 and joining the Venezuelan winter league. The Yankees signed him in May 2012.
After a strong spring with the Yankees in 2014, Garcia hit .319 in 86 games in Triple-A. But the Yankees deemed Garcia expendable because they were deep in the outfield and released him this spring.
The Braves signed Garcia soon after and he started the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. He had a brief call-up in May and the Braves brought him back after they traded Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe to the Mets on Friday.
At the time manager Fredi Gonzalez said he didn’t know much about Garcia but would give him a chance. Garcia went 1-for-3 on Saturday and delivered the game-winning hit in the series finale.
“He’s (only) got eight at-bats in the big league but I like the at-bats he’s given us,” Gonzalez said. “He’s made some nice plays at third base. That’s a nice addition. We’ve got to find a way to keep him in the lineup somehow.”
There’s an opportunity for Garcia to play regularly if he can help the Braves’ scuffling offense. After scoring a total of two runs in the first two games of the series, the Braves matched that total in the second inning of the finale.
Outfielder Eury Perez walked with one out and catcher Ryan Lavarnway doubled against Wacha (11-4) to score him. After Wisler struck out and Jace Peterson walked, Cameron Maybin singled to score Lavarnway.
“That was nice to kind of break the ice,” Gonzalez said.
Wisler won his fourth consecutive decision and had his longest outing since he pitched eight innings against the Mets in his big-league debut on June 19.
“I was a little bit nervous,” he said. “This is the best team in baseball. They have a very good lineup, very talented. I was trying to attack guys the same way I would normal hitters.”
