BRISTOL, Tenn. — Eli White felt right at home at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The Atlanta Braves’ right fielder blasted a pair of home runs, including a three-run shot in the second inning to put Atlanta up to stay, as the Braves returned to BMS on Sunday after the Speedway Classic was suspended due to rain on Saturday night, and earned a 4-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
Not only was a Major League Baseball regular season record 91,032 tickets sold for the event, but White also became the first big leaguer to hit a home run in Tennessee. The record crowd broke the former mark of 84,587 set in 1954 at Cleveland Stadium when the Indians played host to the New York Yankees.
“That is really cool to be the first person to hit that homer here. Good trivia is always cool to be a part of so that is something super special,” said White, who spent the 2019 season playing with the Nashville Sounds in the Pacific Coast League for the Texas Rangers. “Tennessee has been an awesome place throughout my baseball career. Getting to play in Nashville that year, it is not too far from home so it feels like home here. It was just a super special experience all around.”
It was just as memorable for Atlanta pitcher Hurston Waldrep, who went to bed on Saturday night expecting to pitch for Atlanta’s Triple-A team in Gwinnett. Instead, he got the call to Bristol for his third major league appearance. His driver picked up the former University of Florida hurler and his girlfriend at 5 a.m., and arrived in Bristol five hours later.
“I tried to sleep on the road in the rain,” said Waldrep, who picked up his first major league win, allowing three hits and one run in 5 2/3 innings. “When we drove down the slope in the bus onto the field I was like ‘Here we are, this is it.’ It doesn’t really ever sink in until you start warming up and being on the mound. You see the backdrop and you see all the fans out there. Just to hear the crowd, that is kind of a surreal moment.”
The Speedway Classic was scheduled for Saturday night, but a persistent rain allowed only seven batters after a two-hour and 17-minute rain delay. That was followed by another delay and eventually a suspension of play.
“I think it was a tough situation,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “We live in this part of the country where the rain is unpredictable and you can see a window and then it shuts right there in front of you.
“We were unfortunate, I am admit that, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win the game,” added Cincinnati manager Terry Francona, whose Reds had planned to fly to Chicago on Saturday night, but had to delay the flight until less than an hour after Sunday’s game ended.
The teams returned for more on Sunday, and so did many of the fans.
“It was a great atmosphere. It is just a shame last night. If we had a beautiful evening last night, I think it would have been even more exciting, but give a lot of credit to both teams’ players with how they came out and it was a tough fought game,” Snitker said. “The guys laid it out there, no one was (complaining) that we have got to stay here another night. I think you saw two really good ball clubs going at it and guys on both teams. I have a lot of respect for both clubs with those they went about that game today.”
After Atlanta ace Spencer Strider was scratched due to the rain delay, the Braves went with Austin Cox on Saturday for four batters. Waldrep took his place, got a terrific defensive play by third baseman Austin Riley to work out of first inning trouble and worked through the sixth inning. Four relievers followed, with Raisel Iglesias allowing the first two batters to reach in the ninth before retiring the final three in order, including Cincinnati slugger Elly De La Cruz on strikes.
“It is definitely not how you draw it up, but nothing about this game is how you draw it up or perfect,” Waldrep said. “To have that along with the first career win, I didn’t think about it until after the game. It kind of all sank in. I sat there in a dugout and watched the rest of the game. I was like I can wait to work out, this is a first for me so to be able to take it all end and just really enjoy it.”
White put the Braves up in the top of the second, hitting a 411-foot home run off Cincinnati reliever Brent Suter after a pair of two-out singles by Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies. He added a solo shot in the seventh, a 413-foot shot for his second career two home run game.
“I thought it would feel weird being out there, but it felt like a normal game environment,” White said. “Just a special crowd and I just tried to soak it in while I was out there the best I could.”
Cincinnati added a run in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Garrett McLain, but that would be it for the Reds, who had 10 hits, but all were singles, and 12 runners were left on base, including bases loaded in the eighth and two in three other innings. Both teams played error-free and often spectacular defense.
“[Waldrep] has a good arm with spin. We were hoping maybe he wouldn’t throw enough strikes, but he did,” Francona said. “He got them to a point where they felt comfortable they could go to the bullpen.”
Atlanta also had 10 hits off six Cincinnati pitchers, including two each by White, Jurickson Profar, who had a triple, Michael Harris II, who doubled, and Drake Baldwin. T.J. Friedl, Ke’Bryan Hayes and McLain had two hits each for the Reds. Austin Hays drove in Cincinnati’s first inning run with an RBI single in the final at-bat on Saturday night.
A native of Greenville, S.C., White, who played college baseball at Clemson, had been to races at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in the past, but nothing like what he saw in Bristol.
“I haven’t been to a NASCAR track before,” White said. “This is something I have been super excited for all year long, just being here and experiencing it and being able to have a big day and help the team and coming through is something super special. It was a lot of fun to be a part of it.”