Disappointing start to the West Coast road trip for the Braves.
On Monday, the Braves did not get their first hit of the ninth inning until the 7th inning.
The Mariners did not get their first hit until the eighth inning.
Max Fried produced six no-hit innings, and Joe Jimenez used some magic to miraculously preserve a 1-0 Atlanta lead heading into the ninth inning.
Unfortunately, the end result was disappointing for Atlanta. AJ Minter allowed a two-run walk-off home run in the ninth inning as Atlanta lost to the Mariners 2 to 1. It was an amazing pitching performance for Atlanta, continuing their recent stretch of outstanding work on the mound. However, there simply was not enough offense to get the win.
It is hard to nit-pick too much when it comes to the Braves play as of late, but if it seems as if the Braves have not been finding as much success late in games recently (aside from Sunday), there is good reason. Cleveland and Seattle own the two best bullpen ERA marks in the majors, and both are in the top 7 of baseball in terms of overall ERA. While Atlanta has also done quite well on the mound, runs are just simply harder to come by at the moment due the quality of opposing pitching.
Of course, the fact that the top half of Atlanta’s lineup (top 4 spots combined) is 26th in OPS and 25th in wRC+ compared to every MLB team’s top half of the lineup over the past two weeks becomes a bit more relevant in close games like Monday. This is typically a game where Atlanta’s best bats rise to the occasion, like Austin Riley and Matt Olson did on Sunday. Sometimes, it just simply is not in the cards. But nine combined strikeouts between Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Riley and Olson on Monday shows there is plenty of room for improvement.
Braves News
Of course, another reason it is hard to find consistent offense is when hard hit balls are not leading to as good of results as one could usually expect. Stephen Tolbert looks at how the Braves are not yet seeing the full benefit of their hard contact this season.
Premium pitching will be the main headline as the series continues against the Mariners and Reynaldo Lopez faces Luis Castillo on Tuesday.
AJ Smith Shawver is producing a higher frequency of high velocity pitches so far at Gwinnett this season.
Jarred Kelenic spoke with the Seattle media as he returned to face his former team.
Justin Toscano looks at how Austin Riley specifically is working through not seeing the best expected results so far this season.
David OBrien looks at the recent struggles of Acuna Jr., but highlights why Kevin Seitzer believes everything will be just fine.
MLB News
Max Kepler helped the Twins win their eighth straight game.
The Orioles overcame the Yankees in a big NL East showdown.
The Cubs topped the Mets in another MLB pitcher’s duel, while the Phillies could not fully come back in a loss to the Angels.
Bill Shaikin gives the latest update on the Athletics future stadium plans.
Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins has a mild left flexor muscle strain. He is currently on the injured list.
The Twins Carlos Correa returned from the injured list.