Nearly two weeks after being traded by the Royals, Nicky Lopez finally made his first start Saturday with the Atlanta Braves.
How’d he do? Well, Lopez made Major League Baseball history.
Lopez started at shortstop for the Braves and had five RBIs, four hits, three runs scored and pitched a scoreless ninth inning as Atlanta routed the Mets 21-3.
Lopez hit a three-run homer off Mets infielder Danny Mendick in the top of the ninth inning at Citi Field. It was Lopez’s first home run since 2021.
“I was wearing red wrist tape the whole (top of the ninth) inning and then I took the wrist tape off because I was going to pitch,” Lopez told the Associated Press.