Braves’ rally falls short and Smith-Shawver hurt in loss

The Braves offense showed some life, but the rally fell short. Smith-Shawver and Fairchild also both got hurt in loss to Phillies

The Atlanta Braves took on the Philadelphia Phillies in game one of a doubleheader in hopes of gaining a game back after losing on Tuesday.

AJ Smith-Shawver faced off against Cristopher Sánchez in a matchup that could go either way if we based it on the Braves having a history of performing well against Sánchez and the Phillies never facing Smith-Shawver before.

Ozzie Albies led off in the absence of Ronald Acuña Jr. He has had a solid career versus LHP and showed it with a single. Unfortunately, the Braves could not get anything else going as Riley, Ozuna, and Olson were all sat down.

Smith-Shawver looked great in the first inning as he was able to force two flyouts and a groundout for a three-up-three-down showing. The Braves looked like they may get something going in the second inning. Sean Murphy led off with a walk, and after a Eli White lineout, Stuart Fairchild walked as well to put two on. Harris and Williams both struck out though, which killed the momentum and ended the top of the second inning.

In the bottom of the second, Smith-Shawver looked good again as he faced the minimum number of hitters by forcing a groundout to Bohm and then got Kepler to ground into a double play after Castellanos singled.

In the third, it was a relatively quiet inning from the Braves. Ozuna singled, but that was the only baserunner.

The bottom of the third is when things went downhill quick. After striking out Sosa, Smith-Shawver walked Marsh who then stole second. Rafael Marchán then took a 1-0 pitch deep just over the right field wall to make the score 0-2 for his first HR of the season. Right after that Bryson Stott hit a sharp line drive that hit Smith-Shawver in the leg. He was initially left in the game, but after Turner flied out, he was removed from the game and replaced by Scott Blewett. Sean Murphy caught Stott trying to steal to end the inning.

Sean Murphy then struck out to lead off the fourth inning followed by an Eli White flyout. Fairchild singled but then was caught trying to steal second. It appeared that Fairchild may have gotten injured on the play because Ronald Acuña Jr. replaced him on defense.

Blewett struggled a bit the fourth at first. He struck out Schwarber but then gave up back-to-back singles. Fortunately, he sat down the next two hitters via flyouts. If it was not for Michael Harris robbing Kepler of a HR, the score would have been much different.

In the fifth Harris was able to get a single, but then Williams grounded into a double play and Albies grounded out as well.

Blewett stayed in the game to pitch the fifth. He struck out Marsh but then Rafael Marchán walked and then moved to second on a passed ball. Stott then singled to moved Marchán to third. Turner then singled to plate a run and make the score 0-3. Blewitt settled down and struck out Schwarber and got Bohm to ground out to first to end the inning.

The Braves finally broke through in the sixth. Austin Riley led off the inning with a single. After a flyout that Ozuna just missed hitting out Olson and Murphy both singled to plate Riley making the score 1-3. Eli White hit a fly ball to center which allowed Olson to move to third. This ended the game for Cristopher Sánchez who was replaced by Orion Kerkering. This brought up Ronald Acuña Jr. in a clutch spot for his first at-bat of the game. He came through with a 100.4 MPH single on the second pitch to make the score 2-3. This brought Harris to the plate. He battled well but ultimately struck out and the rally was cut short.

Even though Blewitt was getting hit hard, he was left in to pitch the sixth inning. As a shock to very few, Blewett gave up a hit on the first hitter he faced. Blewett was then replaced with Aaron Bummer. Bummer was able to strikeout Kepler. He then hit Sosa with a pitch to put two runners on. He was able to shake off the HBP by striking out Marsh looking and then forced a groundout to third to end the inning.

Alex Verdugo came in to pinch it in the seventh inning for Luke Williams, but it was not successful. He grounded out, followed by Albies lining out on a leaping catch from Turner. Riley singled, but nothing else came of the inning as Ozuna grounded out.

Nick Allen came in the game at SS and replaced Verdugo. After Bummer got Stott to groundout he was replaced by Pierce Johnson. This pitching change proved to be the wrong move. Turner flied out a hard hot ball to deep center, followed by a Schwarber HR to make the score 2-4. Bohm then flied out to RF to end the inning.

In the eighth the Braves came through again. Olson hit a soft lineout to third, but then Sean Murphy hit a no doubter to left center to make the score 3-4. After an Eli White pop up, Acuña doubled, and after a mound visit Harris doubled as well to tie up the game 4-4. This resulted in José Ruiz coming in the game. Nick Allen, in his first at-bat in the game grounded out to end the top of the eighth, but it was a brand new ballgame.

Daysbel Hernández came into the game to pitch the eighth. He gave up a leadoff single to Castellanos, followed by a walk to Kepler. After a mound visit and Rojas replacing Castellanos as a pinch runner, Sosa hit a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over. Marsh then walked to load the bases with one out. With the bases loaded, Hernández hit Marchán with a pitch to score the go ahead run. The play was challenged, but failed.

Dylan Dodd, who was the twenty-seventh man selected for the doubleheader, came into the game. It ultimately worked out as Dodd was able to strike out Stott and get Turner to fly out.

Jordan Romano came in the game for the Phillies to try and close it out against the top of the Braves’ order. Albies was able to walk on four straight pitches. Albies then got caught stealing second, so the walk did not do much. Austin Riley then struck out on the next pitch. This brought Ozuna up to the plate as the last hope for the Braves. He then walked, bringing the go ahead run to the plate in Matt Olson. Drake Baldwin came in to run for Ozuna. Olson kept the hope alive with a single that put runners on the corners. Sean Murphy then walked and loaded the bases for Eli White.

Eli White struck out on four pitches to end the game with the bases loaded.

Despite the loss, there were some positives. The Braves’ offense showed some tenacity and fought back to tie the game. They also has thirteen hits and drew five walks. Despite losing AJ Smith-Shawver early, the bullpen outside of Johnson and Hernández mostly looked sharp.

The Braves will look salvage a win in the second game of the doubleheader at 6:45 pm EDT today.