Ender Inciarte on Sunday became just the third player in Atlanta Braves history to have two 5-for-5 games in a single season, and he did in a two-week span.
That’s the way things have gone lately for the Braves’ Gold Glove center fielder and leadoff hitter, who was 5-for-5 with a home run, a walk and five RBIs in Sunday’s 13-8 win at Cincinnati.
After batting just .207 with a .242 on-base percentage and .621 OPS in his first 20 games games through April 27, Inciarte had a .354 average (52-for-147) with a .407 OBP and .856 OPS in his past 34 games before Monday’s series opener against the Phillies.
“I don’t know what it is about April,” said Inciarte, who missed all but three games in April 2016 – his first season with the Braves – due to a hamstring injury. “But I always tend to start the year slow. It gets me mad when I look forward to starting the season hot and I see the same thing happening every year. It’ll turn around. I think this year I’m a lot better than where I was at this point of the year (last season).”
And healthy.
“Yeah, that’s the most important thing,” he said.
The other Atlanta-era Braves to have two 5-for-5 games in a season were Fred McGriff in 1996 and Kenny Lofton in 1997. His performance Sunday made him the ninth player in Atlanta franchise history to have at least five hits and five RBIs in a game and only the fourth to do it without making an out in the game.
Inciarte was also just the third player in all-time franchise history to reach base six times in a five-RBI game and second in the past half-century, joining Willie Harris, who went 6-for-6 with six RBIs in a July 2007 game against the Cardinals.
Since RBIs became an official stat in 1920, Inciarte and Harris are two of only nine major league leadoff hitters to go 5-for-5 or better with five or more RBIs in a game.
And finally, Inciarte tied an all-time franchise record – since at least 1913 — by reaching base safely in six plate appearances without making an out. The last to do it was Jason Heyward in an August 2010 road game against the Cubs.
A year ago, Inciarte didn’t heat up at the plate until this point of the season. He hit .202 with a .278 OBP and .523 OPS in 30 games through June 5, then scorched for the rest of the season, basically, with a .316 average, .371 OBP and .790 OPS in his final 101 games. He was a big reason the Braves went 50-51 in those games, providing a spark after being moved to the top of the lineup.
He’s done the same thing lately. When Inciarte is getting on base, the Braves’ offensive engine hums a lot more efficiently, particularly important lately with slugger Freddie Freeman out of the lineup.
“Ender, when he starts doing what he does, doing what he did yesterday, he’s a trend-setter and I feel like we can surprise a lot of guys because we feed off his energy,” Braves second baseman Brandon Phillips said. “He’s very important to this team, and when he gets it going I feel like we can beat anybody.”
