Opportunities have been limited for Atlanta Braves infielder Brandon Snyder. However, when they do come, he is fully prepared to take advantage.
“I tell (Braves interim manager Brian) Snitker all the time, all I ask is that you tell me when and I will be ready,” Snyder said. “That is the way I have looked at it. Every opportunity is a blessing and to try and take advantage of it.”
On Friday night, Snitker did call Snyder’s number. It was in the fifth inning with the Braves down 8-2 against the New York Mets. There were two runners on and Snitker instructed him to pinch hit.
After a couple of pitches, Snyder deposited a fastball over the right field wall. It was his second home run since being called up on June 2 from Triple-A Gwinnett. The three-run blast was his fourth hit in 14 at-bats. This season, all of his hits have been extra-base hits.
“In that situation with runners on first and third in the middle of a rally, you are just trying to square a ball up and get that run in from third,” he said. “Being ahead in the count, and having faced him in New York, I looked for a fastball away and tried to put a good swing on it.”
The home run was the big hit in a six run inning for the Braves. The Braves added one more run in the inning but couldn’t get any further.
The loss drops the Braves to 25-48 overall. However, they have still won seven of their last nine games and are 1-1 on the homestand.
In defeat, Snitker was proud of his team for battling. He praised the team for staying in the game and Snyder for the big hit in the middle innings.
“They kept battling in the six run inning,” he said. “Guys were just batting the ball around and didn’t get down, which would’ve been easy against a good pitcher. They put some really good at-bats on them and Brandon (Snyder) had the big hit there to lift everybody up. We just got down too far.”
The Braves will be back at it tomorrow against the Mets. Pitcher Julio Teheran faces Mets’ Jacob deGrom in a battle of young star pitchers.
