NEW YORK – Braves right fielder Nick Markakis was away from the team Wednesday after requesting permission to return to his home in the Baltimore area for what manager Brian Snitker called a personal matter.
Markakis returned home late Tuesday, after getting two hits, including an RBI double in a 4-3 loss to the Mets at Citi Field. He missed Wednesday’s series finale in New York and is expected to miss at least the first game of a four-game, season-ending series against the Marlins that starts Thursday in Miami.
“Just a personal thing,” Snitker said. “Hopefully he’ll be back for the weekend in Miami. He just had to go home to take care of some personal thing.”
Markakis, 33, attended Woodstock High School outside Atlanta, but he and his wife, Christina, live with their three children outside Baltimore, where he played the first nine seasons of his major league career with the Orioles.
Markakis is finishing the third season of a four-year contract with the Braves.
He played in 156 of the Braves’ 157 games before Wednesday, including 151 starts. Markakis has hit .276 with a .355 on-base percentage, eight home runs and a team-high 75 RBIs and ranked among National League leaders with 39 doubles.
Lane Adams made his first start in right field Wednesday, after making four starts in left field and three starts in center field.
