The Atlanta Braves put together one of their better wins of the entire season on Tuesday night when they came back to beat the Mets. Ronald Acuña Jr. continued to set the table out of the leadoff spot, Spencer Schwellenbach settled down after a rocky start, and Marcell Ozuna came up huge when the Braves needed him most. However, another sneaky factor in Atlanta's win was an eyebrow-raising change to the Braves' lineup courtesy of Brian Snitker.
Going up against a lefty in David Peterson, it was a mortal lock that the lineup was going to look a little weird. Snitker has generally sat Drake Baldwin against lefties this season and Michael Harris II has struggled so much this season that batting him against a same-handed pitcher isn't really an option. However, it was still odd to look at the lineup the Braves trotted out on Tuesday and see Eli White batting second.
White is a right-handed bat, so batting him higher than you normally would against a lefty starter isn't completely insane. However, with a lineup that has Austin Riley, Marcell Ozuna, and Sean Murphy from the right side in it, giving White and his .669 OPS and 4.3% walk rate the second most plate appearances was a wild choice.
As it turns out, it also paid off for the Braves.
Brian Snitker's lineup gambit helped set the stage for Atlanta's insane comeback
While the biggest reasons for the Braves beating the Mets were the play of the pitching staff, Ozuna, and Acuña Jr., the #2 spot in the lineup played a key role as well. White did hit into a double play in the first inning which was unfortunate, but his single in the third inning put Acuña Jr. in scoring position for Matt Olson who drove him in for the Braves' first run of the game.
The benefits didn't stop there. In the pivotal eighth inning, Snit swapped out White for Alex Verdugo who promptly singled to load the bases for the Braves. Two batters later, Ozuna cleared the bases and set the stage for Atlanta's comeback win.
Look, Snitker is just trying anything he can to gain some sort of edge and get this offense going. Until Jurickson Profar returns, there are going to be lineups that leave a lot to be desired. However, every team needs a little bit of good fortune to be successful in a given season and on Tuesday, the Braves finally got some.
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