The Atlanta Braves had leads in the 5th inning in all three games at home against Toronto and ended up giving up every lead and getting swept at home. Coming into the series, the Braves were on the heels of an impressive series against the Phillies, winning a 12-inning thriller before dominating in a 6-1 victory on Sunday.
In the first game of this home series with the Blue Jays, starting pitcher Bryse Wilson delivered a strong performance, not giving up a run until the 6th inning, which the Braves answered in the bottom to retake the lead. Outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. scored twice while outfielder Marcell Ozuna also delivered a home run of his own to retake the lead in the 6th inning. After the strong start, the bullpen continued the trend that has plagued Atlanta all season.
A.J Minter came in during the 8th inning and gave up three earned runs, giving the Blue Jays a commanding 5-3 lead, which they would hold onto for the win. Trent Thornton earned the win for Toronto, pitching one inning in the 7th.
The Braves had another lead on Wednesday, thanks to a shut-out first five innings from starting pitcher Max Fried, who looked like his old self in the performance. Catcher William Contreras delivered a no-doubt 463-foot home run in the 5th inning to strike first. Fried gave up his first run of the game on an RBI double by shortstop Marcus Semien before being relieved in the 7th inning by Luke Jackson.
This was a tie game for the Braves to take, then it happened, again. The bullpen gave up three runs and the Atlanta bats disappeared for the Blue Jays to waltz to a win in the second game of the series.
The broken record continued on Thursday. Acuña Jr. hit a home run to Hank Aaron Terrace on the first pitch of the game for the Blue Jays and first baseman Freddie Freeman scored on an RBI single by third baseman Ehire Adrianza, taking over for Austin Riley, who was rested for the game.
Starting pitcher Charlie Morton battled through 4.2 innings, giving up three runs before being relieved by Jacob Webb. Shortstop Dansby Swanson hit a two-run homer in the 6th to give the Braves a 4-3 lead they would hold until the 8th inning.
The pair of Minter and Will Smith gave up five earned runs in the last two innings, sealing the deal on the series sweep for Toronto. This moves the Blue Jays to 6-0 against the Braves this season, and now Atlanta is 17-20 and 3rd in the NL East.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe question still lies: How does Atlanta overcome the bullpen issues and cold bats late in games? The Braves welcomed back a familiar face on Sunday, signing relief pitcher Shane Greene and assigning him to Gwinnett with the plans of getting him ready for the call-up.
The Braves lead the MLB in home runs with 52 but their batting average is in the bottom half of the league, playing into the cold streaks late in games when NL MVP frontrunner Acuña Jr. isn’t leading the way.
The young star also sustained an injury while running out a ground ball, where he landed awkwardly on the base and came up limping. The X-rays came back negative and he will be re-evaluated on Friday. If the Braves are going to have any chance of turning it around, they will need him healthy and continuing to perform.
Atlanta will have to find a short memory, starting a three-game series on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers, who are 20-17 and have won three of their last four.
