Bruce homer happy in Braves’ new park
ATLANTA — Seven combined home runs in two games.
“I heard the ball jumps here and I was a little surprised at how much it carries,” Mets manager Terry Collins said of the Braves’ new SunTrust Park.
“I think most of the balls that were hit would have been homers regardless,” countered Mets outfield Jay Bruce.
Well, the two Bruce hit Tuesday would have.
Bruce was one of the reasons Mets fans didn’t down a bleach-and-paintthinner cocktail after the 9-7 loss to the Braves. Bruce racked up a careerbest six RBIs with a monster two-run blast to right in the first inning and then a grand slam, the fifth of his career, in the ninth to make a blowout defeat seem nicer.
And that grand slam was an opposite-field shot. It didn’t have the magnificence or distance of his first homer but it carried well to left.
“Honestly, in BP I’m probably using the other side of the field less than I ever have,” said Bruce, who added his eighth and ninth homers while upping his RBI count to a team-best 22.
“I think just the way my swing works by staying tight with my hands and using the big part of the field and not forcing balls to left-center and left, helped me actually utilize the other way a little better because I’m just backing up the ball a little more with a tighter swing,” Bruce said.
Worked here. Would have worked in Citi Field. Come July, probably would work in Death Valley if the ball carries as expected.
“Gorgeous park, but when it warms up balls are really going to fly here,” Collins said of the potential Homer Depot.
“The ball does seem to carry well. There does seem to be some space out there as well. It doesn’t feel like a bandbox at all,” Bruce said. “It seems like a good place to hit so far.”
Hey, you collect the 23rd multihomer game of your career, third this season, along with a career-high RBI total and you’d like the place, too.
And big offensive nights from the likes of Bruce are what the Mets will need as they worked through the medical maze of their pitching rotation. Injuries and surgeries populate virtually everyone’s résumés. So more is required of the offense.
“It goes without saying we want to score as many runs as we can but, yeah, we have to step up. Step up and take advantage of all the opportunities,” Bruce said. “I wouldn’t say we need to try harder or try and do more. We just need to work and prepare and be ready to play.”