Yes, that really happened. The Braves really lost that game.
Despite spending most of the game in clear control of this one, a bad outing from Raisel Iglesias in the ninth inning and some bad defense in the tenth inning helped contribute to the Atlanta Braves coughing up a four-run lead on their way to a stunning loss at the hands of the Detroit Tigers.
While the Braves didn’t harness any of that first-inning magic that we’re used to seeing from them, we didn’t have to wait long for the road team to get on the board after that. Marcell Ozuna led off the second inning with a double and after two fly balls from Eddie Rosario and Ozzie Albies, Ozuna was able to scamper home and put the Braves on the board first via the sacrifice fly.
The bottom of the third and the top of the fourth ended up bringing a pair of injury scares towards Atlanta’s way, though. The first one occurred in the third, which is when Charlie Morton had to get checked on with two outs. It appeared that his shoulder was bothering him after a pitch but after he got checked on by the team trainer, he ended up continuing on and was able to get through the rest of his start without any more serious issues.
The same couldn’t be said for Marcell Ozuna, unfortunately. The top of the fourth ended up being Ozuna’s last frame of the game, as he got hit by a pitch on his right wrist. He’s listed as day-to-day (but as a wise man once said, aren’t we all?) with a right wrist contusion, so hopefully he’ll be able to heal up quickly and this doesn’t derail the strong run of form that he’s been on recently at the plate.
Braves DH Marcell Ozuna was removed from tonight’s game as a precaution with a right wrist contusion. He is day-to-day.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 13, 2023
The action subsided in this one until the fifth inning, which is when Atlanta’s offense returned to life. The first three Braves batters in that frame all got hits, which culminated with Ronald Acuña Jr. hitting a double that plated both Orlando Arcia and Michael Harris II in order to extend Atlanta’s lead from a skimpy single run to a somewhat comfortable 3-0 lead. The Braves were able to lead the bases with one out but were unable to capitalize on the chance to break the game open, as new DH Travis d’Arnaud and Eddie Rosario struck out and grounded out, respectively to end the scoring threat right there.
With that being said, the Braves weren’t done scoring after that. The sixth inning was a strange one for Atlanta but they still managed to scrape a run out of it. Ozzie Albies led off the sixth with a walk and then eventually made it to third base on a stolen base and via an error from Javier Baez that allowed Michael Harris II to reach base. Ronald Acuña Jr. then returned to the plate and hit a very awkward-looking blooper into right field. The ball dropped onto the grass and Michael Harris II didn’t exactly do a good job of judging what the ball was going to do and was easily forced out at second base. The good news is that Ozzie was able to score on the play and it was 4-0 at the time.
The bottom of the seventh and the top of the eighth inning saw the two teams trade runs — Collin McHugh relieved Charlie Morton with two outs in the sixth inning and pitched into the seventh, which is when Andy Ibáñez led off that frame with a homer and then Jake Rogers followed it up with a single. Fortunately, A.J. Minter entered the game and retired the side in order, which meant that the home run that Michael Harris II hit in the top of the eighth was able to restore their lead to a four-run cushion.
Nick Anderson got the ball for the eighth inning and ran into a bit of trouble after giving up a run following a leadoff double and two two-out singles to make it 5-2. Detroit had runners on the corners with two outs following the RBI single from Zack Short but he was able to get out of the inning without any more damage. Raisel Iglesias came in for the ninth and things started in extremely rocky fashion. The first three batters that Iglesias saw ended up going single-home run-single and just like that, Michael Harris II’s homer became very important and Detroit was threatening to mount a furious comeback.
Unfortunately, the Tigers were able to pull off the comeback, as Iglesias went on to give up three more singles and Detroit managed to make it 5-5. Against all odds, the game went to extras and Atlanta’s first shot at scoring in the 10th went by the wayside after a groundout by Travis d’Arnaud was able to move Sam Hilliard to third but for naught after he was thrown out at home trying to score on Eddie Rosario’s shallow fly ball.
The Tigers, meanwhile, apparently showed the Braves how it’s done in their half of the tenth. After moving the runner to third after Austin Riley made a meal out of fielding a bunt from Jake Rogers, Spencer Torkleson came up with one out and hit a deep line drive to center field to bring home the ghost runner and complete the incredible comeback for the Tigers (or, the inexplicable collapse from the Braves).
Needless to say, this was an absolutely shocking end to what was seemingly going to be a somewhat routine victory for the Braves. Instead, Raisel Iglesias’ rough ninth inning ended up doing a lot to help doom the Braves to yet another loss to a team that they should usually beat. Iglesias has had three outings that would qualify as being bad this season and somehow, two of those have come against the Oakland A’s and now the Detroit Tigers. It was just one of those nights that goes to show that you have to stay locked in for all 27 outs, and while Detroit’s still struggling, they’re still a big league club. The Braves have no choice but to try to bounce back tomorrow night at 6:40 PM E.T.