ARLINGTON -- Michael Harris II stepped to the plate a single shy of hitting for the cycle in the top of the ninth inning. When he drove a liner to left a few moments later, his only hope was that Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford wouldn’t make a sliding catch on it.
“I thought he was going to either block it up or catch it,” Harris said. “Then, seeing it get through his legs, I had to keep going.”
Harris turned on the jets for his second triple of the night and eventually scored the go-ahead run. Unfortunately for the Braves, the lead didn’t stand as the Rangers rallied for a 6-5 victory over Atlanta in 10 innings at Globe Life Field on Saturday.
Still, the loss shouldn’t diminish the terrific 4-for-4 performance put on by Harris. After all, he pulled off a trick that had never been done in Braves history before -- a game with one or more home runs, two or more triples and one or more doubles. Harris is just the ninth player in MLB since 1901 to post that stat line, with the last being the Mariners’ Kyle Seager on June 2, 2014, at the Yankees.
“Each [hit] was harder than the last,” manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s really good to see. He’s feeling really good right now up there. Hopefully, this continues on.”
Harris started his night by ripping a triple to center field off Rangers starter Kumar Rocker in the second inning before scoring on Jurickson Profar's single. He followed with an RBI double in his next at-bat in the fourth, fouling off five straight pitches to start that at-bat against Rocker.
Harris then belted a solo home run in the sixth off Rangers reliever Jon Gray before tripling again in the ninth off Rangers reliever Shawn Armstrong.
Harris became the 19th player in franchise history to record four extra-base hits in a game. The last player to do that was Freddie Freeman on April 17, 2017. Additionally, he’s also the first Brave to notch two or more triples in a game since Jeff Francoeur on April 12, 2009.
“I felt good, seeing pitches well,” Harris said. “[In the second at-bat], I was just trying to get that one pitch to be able to do a job. I was able to fight off some pitches to get to that one pitch.”
Harris has been on a tear after a largely forgettable first half. He entered the All-Star break ranked last among qualified MLB players with a .551 OPS. However, he started turning things around in the last series before the break in St. Louis, going 4-for-11 with two doubles.
He has carried that momentum into the second half. Dating back to that St. Louis series on July 11, Harris has base hits in 10 of his last 11 games, including multiple hits in three of his last four.
Harris has credited a mechanical adjustment -- raising his hands up toward his shoulders -- as the key to the turnaround. Making these types of adjustments is something Harris has done throughout his career, evidenced by the fact that his second-half numbers are historically always better than his first-half stats.
Harris entered Saturday’s game with a lifetime slash line of .243/.280/.383 (.662 OPS) before the break, compared to a line of .308/.346/.520 (.866 OPS) after it.
Asked the reason for his second-half success, Harris said, “The only thing I can say is I find something mechanically or something that starts to get me in a groove towards the middle of the season to help me finish the season pretty well.
“I don’t know why it’s like that, but baseball is a game of adjustments. If you can’t adjust, you can’t play this game. So, I’d rather find it in the middle of the season or late [in the season] than never.”
Before this run, Harris had just 12 hits in his prior 27 games, batting .126 from June 8 to July 10. But despite these struggles, he has never lost his confidence.
“I feel like I was always pretty stable mentally. Always felt like I was in a good spot, but the results wouldn’t come around,” said Harris, the 2022 NL Rookie of the Year. “I guess after this mechanical change, everything kind of flipped. I guess [how I’m feeling] mentally is even higher now.”
Still, Harris acknowledged that it’s tough to enjoy these types of nights with the losses continuing to pile up. The Braves (44-59) have lost four straight games and will start the second half with three straight series losses.
But the strides Harris has made of late is something to celebrate.
“On a personal note, just being able to produce and be in a position to score runs, to have a chance to win, is pretty nice,” he said. “I guess it just wasn’t enough tonight.”