Braves Beat Pirates 6-4 Off Gattis’ Pinch-Hit HR

Rookie Evan Gattis has received a lot of attention as the Atlanta Braves’ newest phenom and proved he’s worth the spotlight Thursday with a pinch-hit two-run home run that lifted Atlanta past the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4. The Braves have now won 13 of 15 games to start the season as Gattis came through when they needed it most in game one against the Pirates.

The 26-year-old wasn’t always expected to make a name for himself on the diamond as he struggled in college with drug abuse and eventually gave up the game. He wasn’t gone for long and returned in 2010 to finish his college career at the University of Texas-Permian Basin.

After college, Gattis was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2010 MLB draft by the Braves and has spent each year since fighting his way through the minor leagues. An injury to Brian McCann gave Gattis an opportunity to step up in spring training this year, and he did just that.

The Texas native hit .358 in the spring for the Braves and was named to the opening day roster to share the catching duties with Gerald Laird. It didn’t take long for Gattis to make waves throughout Major League Baseball as he homered off Phillies superstar Roy Halladay in his second career at-bat.

The Braves have since jumped out to an early lead in the NL East, and Gattis is hitting .279 with five home runs and 12 RBIs. His five homers is tied for fourth in the National League with the likes of Bryce Harper.

The Braves didn’t have Gattis in the starting lineup on Thursday, but he still came through with the biggest hit of the ballgame. With the two teams tied at 4-4, Gattis pinch-hit for pitcher Anthony Varvaro and delivered a go-ahead two-run shot.

Varvaro would get the win as starter Julio Teheran was relieved after six innings of work and the ballgame still tied. Both Upton brothers found the cheap seats before Gattis’ huge blast in the eighth as the Braves went on to hit four homer runs on the day.

B.J. Upton started it off with a solo shot to deep left in the top of the first. With the Braves down 2-1, Chris Johnson hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Braves a one-run lead.

The Pirates would tie it up in the fourth when Pedro Alvarez hit a solo home run to deep center. In the next half inning, Justin Upton went yard for his league-leading ninth homer of the season.

With five innings in the books, both teams had combined to hit five home runs with four innings left to play. Neither team scored throughout the next two innings before Gattis’ pinch-hit power came into play.

Pirates relief pitcher Jared Hughes left a pitch over the center of the plate and Gattis took advantage. In his first MLB pinch-hit opportunity, Gattis ripped Hughes’ pitch over the left field wall to give the Braves a 6-4 lead.

After Eric O’Flaherty pitched a scoreless bottom half in the eighth, closer Craig Kimbrel came in to close out the Pirates. Kimbrel struck out the side for his seventh save of the early season.

Braves’ manager Fredi Gonzalez was very impressed with Gattis’ big homer and made it known after the game.

” He got a good pitch to hit,” Gonzalez said after the 6-4 win. “He didn’t hit it real well. It got in on him a little bit but he’s such a big strong guy he hit it out.”

The Braves now hold a four-game lead over the Washington Nationals for first place in the NL East and have been taring the cover off the ball of late. The Pirates split two games with the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this week before losing game one to the Braves on Thursday.

Pittsburgh is now two-games back of the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central and will need a lot more offensive production if they hope to take a game from the Braves in the four-game set.

Can the Atlanta Braves continue their hot-hitting as they take on the Pirates in game two on Friday?

[Image via Doug Anderson]