Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves

ATLANTA – When Michael Harris II was selected by the Braves in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft, perhaps the Atlanta-area native envisioned a clutch hit or two for his hometown club. It’s doubtful, though, that the then 18-year-old center fielder could have predicted how his game-winning hit came about in Friday’s 5-3 win against the Phillies at Truist Park. Harris, who was scratched from Atlanta’s starting lineup with left quad tightness just hours before Friday’s series opener against Philadelphia, got the pinch-hit nod from manager Walt Weiss as the Braves trailed 3-2 with two on and two out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Harris made sure Weiss wouldn’t regret his decision. He struck a go-ahead two-run double to left-center field off Philadelphia starting pitcher Andrew Painter. “In a situation like that, if I was needed, I was available to go out there and try to get it done,” Harris said. Prior to Friday, Harris had only made four pinch-hit appearances in his career, going 2-for-3 with a walk. After his clutch double in the series opener, he has a 1.800 OPS (.750/.800/1.000 slash line) off the bench. Aside from the fact that Harris was thrown into the game’s most crucial moment as a bat off the bench, the at-bat’s pressure was compounded by the 39,627 fans who sold out Truist Park for the 200th time in the regular season in stadium history. “I felt a lot of emotion and stuff from the crowd,” Harris said. “It was really loud in a big situation.” Weiss had no reservations about sending Harris to the plate in a pinch. “If the situation showed itself, I was \[going to\