ATLANTA -- Bob Horner’s four-homer game in a loss to the Expos on July 6, 1986, has long stood as one of the greatest accomplishments in Braves history, especially during the TBS era.
Horner’s big game stood as the only time in modern history, and second time, a team lost despite receiving four home runs from one player. But the Braves found themselves on the other side of this incredibly unique result on Saturday night, when they overcame four Eugenio Suárez homers in an 8-7, 10-inning win over the D-backs at Chase Field.
“We were wondering if it had happened at all,” said Matt Olson, who scored the winning run on a wild pitch.
Growing up a Braves fan in suburban Atlanta, Olson was at least aware of Horner’s four-homer game. Like manager Brian Snitker, who was managing a Single-A Sumter team that included David Justice in 1986, Olson didn’t remember Atlanta had lost.
Nor did anyone remember that the Phillies suffered a 9-8 loss, despite receiving four homers from Ed Delahanty against the Chicago Colts on July 13, 1896.
“We couldn’t get him out,” Snitker said of Suárez. “Thank God, we won the game in spite of that great night that he had.”
So, the Braves found themselves on the right side of history while winning for the seventh time in the eight games that have been played since their 5-13 start. Michael Harris II again keyed an eighth-inning rally and Sean Murphy hit his seventh homer in just his 15th game of the season.
There was plenty of action and drama in a game that ended with a defensive gem. Riley gloved Randal Grichuk’s bouncer at the edge of the grass behind third base, continued into foul territory and then skipped a throw that found Olson’s glove just before Grichuk reached the bag.
It looked like the game would be extended when first-base umpire Clint Vondrak ruled Grichuk safe. But Snitker and his players exhaled after a quick replay review reversed the call.
“Exhausting,” Snitker said, when asked to describe the game.
Suarez homered three times off starter Grant Holmes and another off closer Raisel Iglesias, who has allowed five homers through 10 innings, one more than he allowed over 69 1/3 innings last year.
Holmes entered this outing having allowed just two homers over 401 pitches all season. He allowed three homers while throwing just eight pitches to Suárez.
“I felt like my stuff was good enough to get him out, but I feel like those hitters, every now and again have those nights where they hit everything, whether you make your pitch or not,” Holmes said. “They’re just on a different planet.”
When Holmes retired the first two batters he faced in the sixth, Snitker allowed him to face Suárez one more time. The D-backs’ third baseman homered against fastballs in his first two plate appearances. This time, he drilled a slider over the outfield wall.
“You just feel like after a couple [home runs], he’s due to make an out,” Snitker said.
Despite the win, the Braves were given more reason to be concerned about Iglesias, who has surrendered at least one run in five of his 10 appearances. The veteran closer might have been at the wrong place at the wrong time when asked to solve a red-hot slugger on Saturday. But his 6.30 ERA creates further reason to be uneasy about Atlanta’s bullpen.
Fortunately, the Braves have taken advantage of opposing bullpens with regularity over the past week. They have erased a deficit or scored the decisive run in the eighth inning in four of their past seven wins.
Suárez tried to deliver the decisive blow when he gave the D-backs a 6-2 lead with his sixth-inning homer. But Eli White, who has started in place of Jarred Kelenic the past three games, made things interesting with a two-run homer off Ryan Thompson in the seventh. White hit the game-wining homer in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s win over the Cardinals.
Olson and Sean Murphy drew consecutive two-out walks off Jalen Beeks to begin the eighth-inning rally. Ozzie Albies extended the inning with an RBI single and Harris, who has hit .406 (13-for-32) over the past eight games, followed with a go-ahead, two-run double that eluded Alek Thomas in center field.
This marked the first time the Braves won a game when surrendering three-plus home runs to an opposing player since beating the Expos, 10-7, on May 4, 1987. Tim Wallach homered three times for Montreal that day, but Atlanta won with assistance from Ozzie Virgil and Dale Murphy, who both homered.
“Suárez had a helluva day at the plate, but putting one in the win column is more important,” Olson said.