The Braves offense couldn’t have had a much more exciting Thursday.
Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies homered. Freddie Freeman hit three doubles. Ender Inciarte extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
And the Braves defeated the Reds, 7-4, to split the series in Cincinnati.
Here’s what the team said afterward:
Manager Brian Snitker:
-On Acuna’s homer:
“It’s always good to get that first homer. He clocked that ball. But it just shows you what he brings. That set of legs is going to be really valuable to us, how athletic he is. It was a good day. He definitely makes our club better. Makes us more athletic. It’s good for him.”
-On the injection of youth and athletic ability:
“It’s really good. Just the athleticism and the athletes we’re putting out there on the field. They make a big difference out there on the field these days. You look, a lot of teams that are up and coming, they’re young and athletic. You look back at the day we were putting those flags up there, we had a lot of athletes on the field. And we’re getting back to that now.”
-On Inciarte:
“He ends up scoring a big add-on run here. This place scares me to death. You just never know. I don’t think any lead’s safe. Like I’ve said before, it’s kind of like Colorado. So that was a big add-on run that he contributed to late.”
-On Acuna and Albies combining for five RBIs:
“That’s a great thing. God, that’s fun to watch. It’s fun to come here every day and be around those young guys every day. They’re just such upbeat, high-energy guys. Makes it fun to be here every day.”
-On the homegrown talent:
“It always means a lot. It makes you proud as an organization when you have your players arrive here in the big leagues and they do well. We’ve always had players and we’re getting back to that.”
Outfielder Ronald Acuna, via team interpreter Franco Garcia:
-On his home run:
“It was truly a unique moment. I really enjoyed it, getting my first home run in the big leagues. It was a once in a lifetime experience.”
-Did Thursday feel any different from your first game?
“It was a little more exciting and emotional yesterday, being my first game in the big leagues. But apart from that, I felt the same in both games.”
-On having fun running the bases:
“That’s what I do anytime I go on the field. I just want to give my best effort out there and really have fun. That’s my goal every time I go on the field.”
Outfielder Ender Inciarte:
-On Acuna:
“He’s a great player and it’s been showing. Once he gets on base he’s very fast. You see him score from first all the time and playing hard. That’s what we want to see around here. Everybody playing hard. Hopefully get as many wins as we can.”
-What difference has the added speed made this season?
“We’re trying to be aggressive on the bases and you can see from day one that everybody’s taking that extra base anytime that we can. There’s also some pop in this team. You see now Ronald, and Albies swinging the ball the way he’s been swinging it, Freddie, Kakes. So everybody has been swinging the bat good. So it’s good to score runs for the pitchers and everybody is on sync right now.”
Starter Sean Newcomb:
-On getting through six innings:
“After that fifth inning when I let up a few, it was definitely big to put up another zero. I thought I might’ve been done after five because my spot was coming up (in the lineup). But it was good to be able to get that sixth one in.”
-On being a mistake away from a gem:
“It boils down to that Votto at-bat. Obviously miss one pitch. If I could get that one pitch back. Other than that I felt like I was in control. I just chalk it up to making a bad pitch to a good hitter.”
