Mallex Smith had a couple of reviewed calls go against him recently on would-be stolen bases, but the umpires got it right when they went to the video to see the rookie’s hit in the fifth inning Tuesday against the Mets’ Matt Harvey.
His triple became a homer after replays showed the ball hit above the outfield wall at Citi Field, certifying Smith’s first homer and giving the Braves a 1-0 lead en route to a 3-0 win. The review took just 50 seconds.
“Seems like I’ve been under review a lot,” Smith joked. “But that’s awesome. Awesome guy to get it off of. (Harvey) is a phenomenal pitcher. I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball. It just so happened that the line was 335; I might have hit it 336. And it went over the fence.”
» Wisler allows one hit in eight shutout innings
Smith chased Harvey from the game with a two-out single in the sixth inning, after the Braves had already scored two runs in the inning. They got those on A.J. Pierzynski’s RBI double and a Harvey wild pitch that scored Pierzynski, after he’d tagged up and hustled to third on a fly out.
On his opposite-field homer in the fifth, Smith slid into third base for his apparent triple, but it didn’t take long before the umpires conferred and went to view the replay. The replay clearly showed the ball landed above an orange line atop the fence in the left-field corner and caromed off a wall behind it.
Smith was asked if he thought initially that the ball might have cleared the fence.
“Oh, man, I was hoping it was going to stay fair,” he said. “That’s what I was really worried about. And then when I saw it bounce back I was just trying to get three. I didn’t know.
“I didn’t until (third-base coach) Bo Porter said something to me, ‘I think you might have hit that out. They’re going to review it.’ And then they reviewed it and I saw it on the screen. Ah, hit a home run. That’s pretty cool.”
It was the sixth home run of the season for the Braves and third on the trip, the other two coming from Freddie Freeman, who doubled in each of his first two at-bats Tuesday. Players never forger their first big-league home run, but for Smith the story will be even more memorable than usual.
“I know, right?” he said. “It was almost — I could have got thrown out at third. I’m sliding into third, (then) somebody’s telling me I hit a home run. So that’s pretty awesome.”
He continued a surge that’s seen the speedy center fielder go 8-for-15 with four extra-base hits in his past four games, after Smith was 6-for-44 (.136) with three extra-base hits in his first 15 major league games.
“I just want to keep it up. Keep coming to the field, keep performing every day,” said Smith, who twice tried to deflect attention from himself to the pitcher across the clubhouse – Matt Wisler pitched eight innings of one-hit ball for the Braves in the shutout.
“I hit a home run, so what?” Smith said. “But a one-hitter through eight? That’s a phenomenal performance. He made it really easy on us.”
The Braves had a prime scoring opportunity in the second inning, when Pierzynski led off with a single and Reid Brignac doubled to the right-field corner. Pierzynski wasn’t sent on the play, holding up at third.
After Erick Aybar’s fly to shallow left, Wisler hit a grounder to the left side and Pierzynski took off toward the plate and was caught in a rundown for the second out. Smith, batting behind Wisler, grounded out to end the second inning with two runners in scoring position.
But when Smith came to the plate three innings later, the rookie got his arms extended on a fastball away and powered it out for a memorable first homer off the Mets’ so-called “Dark Knight.” That got the Braves on the board, and an inning later they got rolling against Harvey (2-4) and knocked him out of the game.
Harvey gave up eight hits, three runs and two walks in 5 2/3 innings.
“One through nine, our guys grinded out some tough at-bats,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Harvey was tough early on. When we got guys on and couldn’t score I’m thinking, boy, this is going to be a tough night. But I’m really proud of our guys offensively.”
