Lane Adams almost walked away from baseball a year ago.
Sunday afternoon, he walked away with a Braves win.
Adams, who entered the game as injured Matt Adams’ replacement in the fifth, hit a walk-off homer on the first pitch he saw in the 11th inning and the Braves won 10-8 over the Marlins at SunTrust Park. It was Adams’ first walk-off home run at any level.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “It’s kind of what you play for, these situations. ... I’ve been hard on myself the past few nights for some at-bats in the late innings. I was just wanting a chance to redeem myself. Luckily I got it and I was able to come through.”
Though not a pinch-hit situation, Adams has become the Braves’ first bat off the bench after not even going to major-league spring training. He’s made a knack of clutch performances, hitting .375 with runners in scoring position and two outs.
“He’s been a nice little weapon to have,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Speed, he’s not scared on the bases. The thing the guy does, you pinch-hit him and he comes up and gives three good wacks and gives himself a chance. He’s done a really good job all year in those situational roles. Coming off the bench, he’s always ready.”
Down three runs in the ninth, Freddie Freeman singled and Nick Markakis doubled with one out. Freeman scored on a Tyler Flowers’ ground out to cut the deficit to 8-6. Lane Adams walked, and the Braves loaded the bases with two down and Rio Ruiz shot one past third to tie the game at 8-8.
Ruiz was 0-for-3 and down 1-2 in the count before his hit.
“We had a good vibe going into it pretty much,” Ruiz said of the ninth inning. “Then it came down to me pretty much battling. I was able to put the ball in play and found a hole. ... After those first two swings, I was trying to win it. Then I was just in grind mode. Just try to put the ball in play and good things happen when you do.”
“It’s great to see them come roaring back,” Snitker said. “These guys never quit. It’s fun to watch. The energy that they have, the ‘stick-to-it-ness” that they exhibit every night. It’s a good sign for a club.”
The Braves have scored 245 runs in the seventh inning or later, best in the National League. The team has walked off nine times, with five of those coming against Miami.
In the weekend’s four-game series, the Braves walked off three times, the first time the franchise has done such since at least 1930.
“It’s fun,” Flowers said. “It’s a little work, especially when you’re catching. We seem to like coming on late, which isn’t a bad thing. ... Coming on late’s probably a little tougher to do.”
Neither team’s pitching could keep the other down. Marlins infielder Dee Gordon, entering with one homer on the season, hammered a pinch-hit shot off Braves reliever Jose Ramirez to break up a 5-5 tie in the eighth. It was Gordon’s first career pinch-hit home run.
The Braves did most of their offensive work with a third inning that started and ended with Ruiz. He drew a leadoff walk, and back-to-back singles from Ender Inciarte and Ozzie Albies brought him home. Markakis drew a walk, and Flowers hit a laser past short to score two and get the Braves out of a 3-0 deficit.
Johan Camargo, who homered and had three RBIs in Saturday’s win, singled to left to score two more and give the Braves their first lead, 4-3. He’s hit .429 (6-for-14) since coming off the disabled list Sept. 5.
The Marlins took advantage of a windy afternoon that possibly threw off Braves starter R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball. The Marlins walked three straight times to start the second. Miguel Rojas snuck one past short to plate the game’s first run, and J.T. Realmuto found the right-center gap to make it 3-0.
Dickey settled in for the next two innings. He retired eight consecutive hitters (four via strikeout) until the fifth when Realmuto, Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich singled to tie the game at 5-5.
The two-run fifth chased Dickey, who finished with five innings of five-run ball, with the three walks in the second. After Gordon’s homer off Ramirez, Matt Wisler gave up consecutive doubles to Stanton and Yelich.
Wisler pitched 1/3 inning, allowing two runs on two hits. A.J. Minter, Dan Winkler and Ian Krol combined to pitch 2-2/3 scoreless innings.
Marlins starter Odrisamer Despaigne was removed after 3-2/3 innings after issuing back-to-back walks to Albies and Freeman. He finished with six walks, with three turning into runs.
Albies was on base four times on Sunday. After hitting .170 in his first 14 games, he’s hit .347 across his last 24 contests.
Matt Adams hit a one-out double in the fifth, but was removed due to right hamstring tightness. He’s day-to-day.
The Marlins threatened in the 11th, but Arodys Vizcaino struck Brian Anderson out with the bases loaded and two outs. Vizcaino pitched a scoreless 10th and 11th.
“He was so efficient in that first inning,” Snitker said. “So it’s one of those times, we have a day off tomorrow, and it was like why not?”
The Marlins’ loss clinched the NL East for the Nationals. Since the 1994 divison realignment, the Braves have 12 division titles, most in the East. The Phillies are second with five and the Nationals are third with four.
The Braves distributed 18,562 tickets to Hurricane Irma evacuees over the course of the four-game series with the Marlins. The team travels to Washington for three before finishing its first season at SunTrust Park with a nine-game homestand.
