ATLANTA -- Instead of saying Drake Baldwin homered off Connelly Early, it would be more accurate to say Baldwin homered against the Red Sox starter and off center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela’s glove.
Baldwin gave the Braves an early lead with his fence-scraping solo homer in the first inning of Friday’s game at Truist Park, which the Braves won in 10 innings, 3-2. The reigning NL Rookie of the Year’s 12th homer was nearly negated by Rafaela, who got his glove on the ball as it cleared the center-field wall but was unable to bring it back.
“I mean, it touched my glove, so it was a close one,” Rafaela said. “It hurts because I wanted to make that play for Early. I did my all, but it went over the fence.”
Baldwin’s home run off Early was the sixth he has hit against left-handed pitchers this year. This matches the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez for the MLB lead for left vs. left homers this year.
David Justice (1993) and Fred McGriff (1996) are tied for the most left-on-left homers by a Braves player in a season over the last 50 years. Baldwin is more than halfway to that mark, just a little more than one-quarter into this season.