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Harris has been so awesome this season.
Michael Harris II sat on the bench most of Sunday afternoon while Bryce Elder battled a Pittsburgh lineup that had built a 2-0 lead at Truist Park.
He watched, waited, and then the seventh inning came around with the bases loaded and one out.
Harris stepped out of the dugout as a pinch hitter, and the 37,697 fans who stuck around through the rain let him hear it.
He hammered the first pitch from Evan Sisk into the right-field corner, a 109-mph shot that cleared the bases and gave the Braves a lead they would not give back.
Atlanta won 3-2 to complete their third sweep of the season.
"I fed off the crowd again today," Harris said after the sweep-clinching win. "Once I came in to pinch-hit, it sounded like a playoff game. I couldn't let them down."
There is a conversation in baseball about which stadiums bring the best home-field energy, and Truist Park almost never comes up.
It probably should.
Since the park opened in 2017, the Braves have quietly built one of the more electric atmospheres in the sport, and the attendance numbers back that up.
Atlanta drew over 3 million fans in both 2023 and 2024, finishing in the top five in average attendance across baseball during that stretch.
Truist Park led the entire National League in capacity percentage in early 2024, sitting at 92 percent.
Even in a rough 2025 where the team went 76-86 and missed the postseason, the park still pulled in over 2.9 million fans.
Loyalty like that through a losing year is rare in baseball and what sets the place apart goes beyond just the ballpark itself.
The Battery Atlanta, the entertainment district wrapped around the stadium, turns gameday into an all-day event that draws families and groups who might not even care about the final score.
That energy builds for hours, and by the time a moment arrives like Harris stepping into a bases-loaded at-bat in the rain, the crowd is already locked in.
Atlanta sits at a league-best 45-21 with an 8.5-game lead in the NL East over the Phillies.
They have won eight of their last ten and racked up 18 series wins this season.
Harris has been a big piece of the surge.
The 25-year-old center fielder is hitting .306 with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs, and his work off the bench has been borderline unbelievable.
He is now 4-for-6 as a pinch hitter in 2026 with two doubles, a home run, and seven RBIs, after having just one hit in two career pinch-hit at-bats before this year.
"He's a tough kid mentally, and the big moments don't scare him," manager Walt Weiss said.
Harris grew up about 40 miles southeast of Truist Park in Stockbridge, Georgia, so these moments are awesome for someone raised watching the Braves.
When the crowd gets loud, he feeds off it, and right now there might not be a more clutch hitter in baseball.
Continue reading...
Michael Harris II sat on the bench most of Sunday afternoon while Bryce Elder battled a Pittsburgh lineup that had built a 2-0 lead at Truist Park.
He watched, waited, and then the seventh inning came around with the bases loaded and one out.
Harris stepped out of the dugout as a pinch hitter, and the 37,697 fans who stuck around through the rain let him hear it.
He hammered the first pitch from Evan Sisk into the right-field corner, a 109-mph shot that cleared the bases and gave the Braves a lead they would not give back.
Atlanta won 3-2 to complete their third sweep of the season.
"I fed off the crowd again today," Harris said after the sweep-clinching win. "Once I came in to pinch-hit, it sounded like a playoff game. I couldn't let them down."
Truist Park Doesn't Get Enough Credit
There is a conversation in baseball about which stadiums bring the best home-field energy, and Truist Park almost never comes up.
It probably should.
Since the park opened in 2017, the Braves have quietly built one of the more electric atmospheres in the sport, and the attendance numbers back that up.
Atlanta drew over 3 million fans in both 2023 and 2024, finishing in the top five in average attendance across baseball during that stretch.
Truist Park led the entire National League in capacity percentage in early 2024, sitting at 92 percent.
Even in a rough 2025 where the team went 76-86 and missed the postseason, the park still pulled in over 2.9 million fans.
Loyalty like that through a losing year is rare in baseball and what sets the place apart goes beyond just the ballpark itself.
The Battery Atlanta, the entertainment district wrapped around the stadium, turns gameday into an all-day event that draws families and groups who might not even care about the final score.
That energy builds for hours, and by the time a moment arrives like Harris stepping into a bases-loaded at-bat in the rain, the crowd is already locked in.
MLB's Best Team Keeps Rolling
Atlanta sits at a league-best 45-21 with an 8.5-game lead in the NL East over the Phillies.
They have won eight of their last ten and racked up 18 series wins this season.
Harris has been a big piece of the surge.
The 25-year-old center fielder is hitting .306 with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs, and his work off the bench has been borderline unbelievable.
He is now 4-for-6 as a pinch hitter in 2026 with two doubles, a home run, and seven RBIs, after having just one hit in two career pinch-hit at-bats before this year.
"He's a tough kid mentally, and the big moments don't scare him," manager Walt Weiss said.
Harris grew up about 40 miles southeast of Truist Park in Stockbridge, Georgia, so these moments are awesome for someone raised watching the Braves.
When the crowd gets loud, he feeds off it, and right now there might not be a more clutch hitter in baseball.
Continue reading...
