For the Braves, the bottom of the ninth inning became rather emblematic of their season.
Down two runs, they had a runner on second base with no outs. The next three hitters made outs.
Game over. Series lost.
The Nationals came into Truist Park and took three of four from the Braves, who lost the finale, 3-1, Thursday night at Truist Park. Their offense has continued to struggle, with no answers.
Five observations:
1. On Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Braves scored eight runs to avoid a sweep. Their offensive performance left you wondering: Could this be the game that jumpstarts them?
Nope.
Lately, the Braves haven’t been able to string together good offensive games. Since the start of play on May 12, the Braves have only scored four or more runs in consecutive contests once – and it happened this week, but Monday was a loss.
Why have they struggled to back up one good offensive outing with another?
“I don’t know. We haven’t hit,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I don’t know, honestly. If I knew, I’d tell them and we’d correct it. It’s not that easy. Like I say every day, we gotta keep grinding, that’s what we’re gonna do.”
You can sense some frustration with the Braves right now. They’re scuffling and cannot find their way out. They believe in themselves, but this has been an extended stretch of quiet offensive performances.
The Braves are 12-14 in May. They have allowed three or more runs in each of their 14 losses this month, while allowing two or fewer runs in the 12 wins. Their 3.4 runs per game in May is the third-lowest mark in the majors, behind the Reds and the White Sox. Those two teams are 24-32 and 15-42, respectively, this year.
The Braves are 31-23, but they haven’t played well recently. They’ve lost 10 of their past 15 games.
“I guess one thing I can say is it probably doesn’t seem like it or feel like we’re still in a pretty good spot, based off of what we did last year and how explosive the offense was,” Michael Harris II said. “There’s a reason why offenses aren’t always doing the same thing every year. It’s baseball. Pitchers change and they evolve, and they have a better game plan against you each year. I feel like we’re still in a pretty decent spot. We could, I guess, be better in some spots, but it’s a long season, it’s end of May. I think we’re about to turn it up soon, though.”
2. Can Snitker sense a bit of frustration among his guys about the lack of results at the plate?
“A little bit, yeah. Yeah. Absolutely,” he said. “They all wanna be the guy, they all wanna do something really good. They’ve been working to that end.”
This much is clear: The Braves’ players care a lot. They’re trying to fight through this funk.
“I’d say everybody in this clubhouse cares more than anybody, and they wanna perform for our fans,” Austin Riley said. “We’re in a rut right now. Just can’t get it going offensively, passing the baton to the next guy. And it’s like, when we do hit balls hard, it’s right at guys. You try to take the positives out of everything, and hopefully this is just callusing us for down the road and make us better baseball players, better people down the stretch.”
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
The Braves have had some tough luck on hard-hit balls, but they’ve also had a lot of games with 10-plus strikeouts. There’s some of both here.
But baseball can beat down players. They all try so hard, and when they don’t get the results, it can feel deflating.
“I think that’s what a lot of people don’t really understand about this sport: We’re pretty much giving it our all every at-bat, and it can be draining when you do everything right and still not come up with the outcome that you wanted,” Harris said. “There’s only so much that you can control when you’re at the plate. Once you hit the ball, it’s pretty much on whoever else after that. I guess we’re in our head a little bit because we know what we can be and where we were last year. I guess it’s a little tough, but we’ll be alright.”
3. The Nationals’ four starters versus the Braves: Five earned runs over 23 1/3 innings pitched.
The Nationals’ starters have pitched well this season. According to research done by The Washington Post, there are 125 pitchers in MLB with at least eight starts this year, and only 10 have yet to surrender more than three earned runs in a game. Three are Nationals, and the Braves faced them this week.
“The pitching was good, but the pitching in the big leagues is really good right now, overall,” Snitker said. “Teams have gotten better as a whole. Other guys are hitting, and it’s just, you know, we’re not swinging the bats real well.”
Ozzie Albies led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk. He stole second base.
Orlando Arcia flied out to right field. Sean Murphy grounded out to shortstop. Adam Duvall struck out.
Last season, the Braves could easily overcome a two-run deficit.
“It’s a different year,” Snitker said. “We scored a lot early in the game last year. You don’t know why things happen in this game. This year, we kind of had been scoring late, and we’re having a hard time doing that now. It’s not an easy thing to get going, because it’s a hard thing to do.”
4. Starter Ray Kerr lasted 3 2/3 innings, and allowed three runs in them. He struck out a career-high seven batters. He issued two walks.
With two outs in the third inning, Kerr gave up a walk, then served up a two-run double and a run-scoring double. The Braves trailed, 3-0, at that point.
After Kerr, Atlanta’s bullpen was excellent. Jesse Chavez, (2 1/3 innings), Joe Jiménez (one) and Jimmy Herget (two) combined to throw 5 1/3 scoreless frames.
The Braves have too many good hitters. You would have to think they’ll get hot eventually, right?
“Yeah. I absolutely feel they will,” Snitker said. “At some point, we’re gonna get it going. We’re gonna do what we’re capable of doing.”
5. With Kerr starting Thursday, Reynaldo López and the other starters received an extra day of rest.
López will start Friday as the Braves begin a series against the Athletics, who will have left-hander JP Sears on the mound for the first of three games. He has a 3.88 ERA.
On Saturday, Chris Sale will face right-hander Aaron Brooks and his 3.63 ERA.
Then on Sunday, Charlie Morton will pitch for Atlanta. Oakland hasn’t yet named a starter for the finale.
Sunday’s game ends the Braves’ long stretch of days without an off day. They’re off on Monday.
Stat to know
14 - Before this month, the Braves had finished above .500 in each month for 14 straight months – from June 2022 to April 2024. This had been the longest active streak in the majors.
Quotable
“You look at last year and what we did, we expected that this year. Just haven’t been able to get that going. It’s frustrating. We get another one tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. At some point, we are going to come out of this and be better for it.” - Riley
Up next
Friday’s series opener between the Braves and Oakland begins at 7:20 p.m.
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