ATLANTA — Eli White is no stranger to being in the ballpark for a big hit by the Atlanta Braves.
This time, though, instead of cheering from the bleachers for one of his baseball heroes, he was on the field and playing the role of the one bringing the fans to their feet.
White hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning Wednesday afternoon at Truist Park, and the Braves made it stand for a 4-1 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals as the home team took two of three to win the series between National League clubs. Atlanta bounced back from Tuesday night’s 10-4 loss, which came after a 7-6 triumph in the opener that gave the Braves a four-game winning streak after they hadn’t even won back-to-back games until their weekend series sweep of the American League’s Minnesota Twins.
A 30-year-old South Carolina native who attended Braves games with his family growing up, White has spent parts of three-plus seasons in Atlanta after spending parts of his first three MLB seasons with the AL’s Texas Rangers. He received a standing ovation when he took his place in the outfield in the top of the ninth inning.
“It felt amazing,” he said in a postgame interview on the FanDuel Sports Network telecast. “I remember being in there in those grandstands (at Turner Field) out there when I was younger, watching guys play, so just a cool feeling to, you know, get the fans what they came here for and just get a huge win for this team.”