The Braves had their seventh official sellout at SunTrust Park on Monday with an announced attendance of 41,256. This game included several thousand fans for the visiting team — little surprise because it was the popular Cubs.
The game had several tense moments before the Cubs won 4-3, lending a postseason feel to the contest.
“Kind of that, or a road game,” Braves catcher Tyler Flowers quipped. “That’s OK. We like that. A little more energy, that’s always fun, even though a lot of them were ‘Chitown’ fans. It’s always good energy. You prefer that over 10,000 people.”
There were lots of games like that over the final two seasons at Turner Field but the Braves are now averaging 31,362 at their new ballpark. And, subjectively speaking, the percentage of Cubs fans at SunTrust seemed lower than the usual contingent at Turner Field.
Cubs backers were loudest after their team took a 4-1 lead in the eight. The Braves fans who stuck around until the end came to life when the home team scored two runs in the ninth inning and loaded the bases on Sean Rodriguez’s walk with two outs.
Braves infielder Johan Camargo flied out to end the game.
“It was exciting,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It was kind of like a playoff game, almost, with the energy in that stadium. It was good to see the guys come back. It was a hard-fought game by both sides. I felt good both of the last two guys we had up there. It just didn’t happen.”
