ATLANTA (AP) — Charlie Culberson had a good feeling after he fouled off a couple of pitches from Seth Lugo.
“When you get a pinch-hit at-bat, you have to be ready to hit, especially if it’s somewhere close to the zone,” he said. “Luckily enough I got one over the plate and put a good swing on it.”
Culberson’s pinch-hit, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Atlanta Braves a 4-3 victory over the New York Mets in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday.
Lugo (1-1) gave up Nick Markakis’ sacrifice fly in the eighth and walked Johan Camargo to begin the ninth before Culberson took him deep.