Braves lose another one-run game to drop series in Sacramento

Atlanta is 11-23 in one-run games.

Following two blowouts that saw the Braves and Athletics split the first two games of the series, it was only fitting Atlanta would find a way to lose yet another one-run game on Thursday night. The A’s won, 5-4, in 11 innings.

It was a rocky first inning for Spencer Strider, who surrendered a three-run homer to Tyler Soderstrom to put Atlanta in an early hole. Strider was nearly perfect after that, however, as he struck out 11 batters over 6.2 innings. He allowed just three hits after the homer and worked mostly drama-free. It was another strong start for Strider as he distances himself from the hamstring and elbow injuries.

The Braves chopped away at the early three-run deficit by way of a Sean Murphy double to make it 3-1 and then another Jurickson Profar homer to tie it at three. It was Profar’s third long ball since returning from the suspension eight days ago.

Lightning struck in the seventh as Ozzie Albies homered, his first since May 29. It was by far the longest homerless sterak of Ozzie’s career and it gave Atlanta a 4-3 lead. Unfortunately, in the eighth, Dylan Lee surrendered an equally rare homer to Nick Kurtz as Sacramento tied it.

The Braves now head to St. Louis to close out the first half against the Cardinals. They’re expected to land around 5 a.m. local time. The Red Birds were awful in the early going of the season but have been one of the NL’s better teams over the last two months. It’ll be Grant Holmes against lefty Matthew Liberatore, who’s enjoying a breakout season. First pitch is 8:15 p.m. ET.