Matt Olson’s home run was encouraging, but Michael Harris II’s home run had the Braves buzzing after their 7-6 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
Braves manager Walt Weiss said, “If he can get to it, he can smoke it, and that was a big home run late.”
Harris’s Game-Winning Homer
After Braves closer Raisel Iglesias’ 28 1/3-inning scoreless streak ended, Harris’s two-run homer in the eighth inning had much more significance. The game-winning home run capped the centre fielder’s second four-hit game of the season.
His teammates praised his ability to hit a 423-foot home run to dead centre against a pitch that was just 1.23 ft off the ground. The homer came against a 91.5 mph changeup from Tayron Guerrero, whose three previous pitches had registered between 99.2-100.6 mph.
“You don’t see that very often,” Spencer Strider said. “That’s just the talent he possesses. He’s got one of the best swings in baseball.”
Per Statcast, entering Tuesday, there had been just seven home runs against pitches that registered 1.23 ft. or lower above the plate. The only one of these classified as a straightaway home run was a shot Braves catcher Drake Baldwin hit against the Nationals on April 21. Baldwin’s homer was hit more to right-center.
Harris’s two-iron was hit to dead centre field.
“He’s incredibly talented,” Olson said. “He can hit any pitch in any spot, as we saw from that homer today.”
When asked about the video of his home run, Harris said, “Ozzie [Albies] told me based on where the pitch was, he thought it was a ball. So, I looked at it and it was indeed a ball. I don’t know. I just see ball, hit ball, I didn’t really care if it was a strike or not. I was just trying to get a hit.”
Olson’s Contribution
Olson crushed a two-run homer off Ranger Suarez in Tuesday’s fifth. It was the first baseman’s 15th homer of the season and first since May 10. He entered the plate appearance with just two extra-base hits in his past 51 at-bats.
“You go through some ups and downs throughout the course of the year,” Olson said. “Being able to contribute to helping the team win helps build some confidence for sure.”
Strider’s Start and Offensive Performance
Strider surrendered back-to-back homers to Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela to begin his start. He retired 15 of the next 18 batters faced and gave the Braves a chance to end their two-game skid.
Pitching wasn’t the problem as the Braves suffered just their second series loss this past weekend. They tallied one hit on Saturday and scored just one run over the final 18 innings played against the Nationals.
The offensive futility highlighted the recent struggles of Olson.
Always his own harshest critic, Strider wasn’t happy with his effort on Tuesday night.
Harris is now hitting .304 with 12 homers and an .865 OPS.
Olson’s blast helped to release some frustration.