NEW YORK – Adonis Garcia’s sore left ankle improved some by Saturday, but not enough for the Braves’ hot-hitting third baseman to avoid missing a second consecutive game against the Mets.
He indicated he’d probably miss the series finale Sunday, too. But Garcia felt good enough to pinch-hit and singled in the seventh inning Saturday.
“It’s slowly getting better,” Garcia said through a translator before the game. “Couple more days. We’re just going to play it by ear, see how it feels.”
The Braves are off Monday before a two-game series at Miami.
“I think it’s more lateral stuff, side-to-side type stuff, reacting to the ball off the bat more than anything,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said before Saturday’s game.
Garcia was 12-for-30 (.400) with a double and two home runs in his past seven games before injuring his ankle while covering third base on a Jose Peraza stolen base in the sixth inning Thursday against the Reds.
“I went to cover the bag. I kind of tweaked it there and just went on, shook it off,” Garcia said. “And then later on in the at-bat is when I really started feeling it, throughout the whole at-bat.”
He stayed in the game to bat in the next inning, but came out after running gingerly to second base on a Jace Peterson single, after Garcia had reached base on a throwing error.
The Mets probably haven’t minded not seeing Garcia: He’s 16-for-41 (.390) with two doubles, a homer and nine RBIs in 13 career games against them.
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