Braves' Snitker laments botched bunt play: 'Don't know what that was'
Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker was none too impressed with Ramón Laureano's baserunning late in Thursday's loss to the New York Mets.
With the score tied at two in the top of the 10th, Laureano found himself caught in a pickle between third base and home plate on what appeared to be a designed squeeze play.
The squeeze play goes wrong for the Braves!
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 26, 2024
Both teams exchange some words after Ramon Laureano and Francisco Alvarez collided pic.twitter.com/hB4ncWC9r5
"I don't know what that was, quite honestly. You're going to have to ask them," Snitker told media postgame, including Bally Sports South.
"We normally don't bunt in that situation, but I was just trying to score a run. We had two pretty good hitters coming up, I thought."
The Braves went on to lose 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning when Laureano overran a fly ball down the right-field line.
Jarred Kelenic, the batter at the plate when Laureano was tagged out, took responsibility for the blunder after he couldn't get the bunt down.
"I was just trying to do everything I could to get the run in, and unfortunately, I just couldn't get a bat to it," Kelenic said, per Bally Sports: Braves.
New York earned its fourth straight win to pull within a half-game of Atlanta for the NL's top wild card. The Braves, losers of five in a row, held a 10-game lead over the Mets as recently as June 3.
The teams continue their four-game series Friday night.