Ruiz's walk-off single lifts Braves over Mets

June 9th, 2017

ATLANTA -- Long after and Matt Harvey provided some encouraging signs during their pitching matchup Friday night at SunTrust Park, the Braves saw a couple of their youngest players construct a quick-strike ninth inning that resulted in a 3-2 walk-off win over the Mets.
Dansby Swanson capped a two-hit performance by turning a sharp grounder to center field into a hustle double off with one out in the ninth.

The Mets then brought lefty Josh Edgin in to face pinch-hitter , who notched his first career walk-off hit by beating the shift with an opposite-field single through the left side.
"[Swanson] is a baseball player, plain and simple," Ruiz said. "He's aggressive and he's usually not wrong when he is. Credit to him. He started that whole thing and put me in a position to drive him in."
's third-inning leadoff homer accounted for the only run surrendered by Teheran, who had totaled 97 pitches when he was lifted for a pinch-hitter with two outs in the sixth inning. The inconsistent Braves right-hander has allowed three earned runs or fewer in four of his past six starts, and at least seven earned runs during the other two starts within this span.
"I loved the way he just kept competing," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "He could have pitched longer in the game if it wasn't the situation. All of his stuff was good. It was live. He made pitches when he had to and that is good for him."

Harvey pitched around a one-out, bases-loaded threat in the second inning and scattered four hits while needing 104 pitches to complete five scoreless innings. This marked just the second time this year the Mets right-hander got through the first five innings of a start without allowing a run.
"I thought he was better and I thought the command of his breaking ball was better tonight," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "I thought he moved the fastball around pretty well, but just ran up on a lot of pitches."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
d'Arnaud's response: After Teheran exited, the Braves attempted to mix and match their way through the bottom of the Mets' lineup in the seventh inning. won his lefty-lefty matchup against Granderson, but then greeted with a game-tying solo shot that snuck over the left-field wall.

"We have a lineup that hits homers and that is one of the things that we know we can do," Collins said. "Everybody in our lineup can do damage and you like to get some guys on ahead of them. But, it was two big home runs that kept us in the game.
Two-out delivery: surrendered Matt Kemp's double to begin the bottom of the sixth and then recorded two quick outs before opting to intentionally walk Danny Santana after falling behind with a 3-0 count. This set the stage for Swanson to lace a 3-2 fastball to left field for a go-ahead two-run double.

QUOTABLE
"I'm so happy for him. He's an awesome kid. It's awesome having him around. I'm just so happy for a good person to come through like that. I'm very happy to get a win, too." -- Swanson on Ruiz, who is just three months younger than the Braves shortstop
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SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Ruiz became the first Braves pinch-hitter to drive in the winning run on the first pitch he saw since Brian Hunter hit a homer against the Phillies on April 18, 2000.

WHAT'S NEXT
Mets: takes the mound in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at 1:05 p.m. ET. will make his 2017 season debut, returning from left elbow inflammation, to start the second game, which is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET.

Braves: will make his much-anticipated Major League debut in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. will return from Triple-A Gwinnett to serve as the 26th-man roster addition during the twin bill and start the second game.

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