ATLANTA — Ronald Acuña Jr. has been again for per week and the pitching employees has posted the Nationwide League’s third-best ERA this month. However neither of those encouraging developments have helped the Braves, who’ve misplaced seven of their previous 9 video games to fall to 12-14 in Could.
“I nonetheless assume we’re proper on the sting of turning this factor round and enjoying the baseball we are able to play,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson mentioned.
As a substitute of using the vitality created once they handed Zack Wheeler his worst begin of the season on Thursday night time in Philadelphia, the Braves returned to Truist Park on Friday and suffered a 5-1 loss to the Pink Sox, who got here to city with a five-game shedding streak.
“We had numerous possibilities tonight,” Braves supervisor Brian Snitker mentioned.
After going 7-for-19 with runners in scoring place throughout Thursday’s doubleheader in opposition to the Phillies, the Braves tallied only one hit with a runner in scoring place (1-for-10) on this sequence opener. This sadly, has been the pattern. Atlanta’s .659 OPS with RISP in Could ranks eleventh among the many 15 NL groups.
This is among the causes the Braves have sputtered, regardless of rating third within the NL with a 3.20 ERA this month. The 2 golf equipment in entrance of them are the Giants (2.69), who’ve gone 13-13 this month, and the Mets (3.12), who’ve gone 14-12 in Could as a result of they’ve truly been much less productive than Atlanta with RISP.
Offensive struggles weren’t envisioned when the Braves entered the season with Olson, Austin Riley, Marcell Ozuna, Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II, every of whom had been an integral a part of the 2023 workforce that matched and set MLB data for residence runs and slugging proportion, respectively. Final 12 months’s offensive decline was only a fluke, proper?
If nothing else, as soon as Acuña joined this group, they might actually begin rolling, proper? Effectively, the Braves have misplaced 5 of seven for the reason that 2023 NL MVP returned from knee surgical procedure final week.
“We have performed numerous tight video games right here these days, and never come by on little bit of them, and we do not really feel like we’re clicking in any respect,” Olson mentioned. “I really feel like you possibly can spin it two alternative ways. You may say we won’t win the tight sport, or you possibly can have a look at it and say we’re not enjoying actually nice baseball for us, and we’re nonetheless in numerous ballgames.”
Six of the seven losses the Braves have suffered inside the previous 9 video games have been determined by two runs or much less.
“We simply haven’t any room for error, whether or not it’s a pitch, or a play or a run or no matter,” Snitker mentioned. “It’s type of arduous to play the sport like that.”
The Braves’ solely run on Friday night time got here courtesy of what seemed to be a nasty ship by third-base coach Matt Tuiasosopo, who has had a pair tough weeks. Acuña was going to be simply out on the plate within the first inning had Boston catcher Carlos Narváez not fumbled the throw.
Narváez dropped one other throw to the plate within the seventh inning. However the run didn’t depend as a result of a replay evaluation decided Abraham Toro held his foot on the first-base bag whereas lunging to get shortstop Trevor Story’s throw.
Consequently, the Braves squandered backup infielder Luke Williams’ leadoff double. Acuña grounded out, Ozuna struck out and Olson hit the 112.7 mph grounder that Story changed into an out.
As irritating because the previous two weeks have been, the Braves aren’t in unfamiliar territory. They’re 4 video games below .500, precisely the place they had been getting into June in 2022. They gained 14 straight to start out that month and completed with 101 wins.
“We’ve made some good runs earlier than,” Olson mentioned. “I don’t see any cause we are able to’t do it once more.”
