The Braves early-season struggles continued on Sunday, as they fell to the Marlins 5-4. That score belies the anemic offensive performance, as they scored three in the ninth and nearly completed their seemingly annual mega-comeback against the Marlins. It wasn’t to be in the end, however, and though it seemed as though the Braves might at least tie the game late, it’s tough to come to the conclusion that the loss was undeserved.
Down 5-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Braves caught a break when Travis Demeritte reached first on a wild pitch despite striking out. An Ozzie Albies double followed that and, after a Matt Olson fly out (which he technically got a sacrifice fly for), Austin Riley hammered a ball into the left-center field seats to suddenly pull the Braves to within a run with one out. Marcell Ozuna doubled to put the tying run in scoring position, but Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario struck out in back-to-back at-bats to end the threat.
And that was pretty much it. The Braves mounted threats in the seventh and fifth, mainly due to a handful of walks issued by Miami pitching. They actually scored a run in the fifth to make it 2-1 at the time, but down 5-1 in the seventh, Riley grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and one out to immediately end that threat.
Bryce Elder got the start for the home side, and was kind of all over the place. He did manage to keep his team in the game, allowing two runs on five hits over 4.2 innings. However, he walked six over that span, and thus was constantly in trouble.
So this early-season swoon has not shown more than fleeting signs of letting up anytime soon. Your Bravos haven’t won a series yet, and they’ve played home sets against the Reds, Nationals and Marlins. I suppose it’s still early, but pretty soon it won’t be.
I thought it interesting that Mark Bowman seemed to go very heavy on the We Just Need Acuna Back, That’ll Solve Everything tack in what was supposed to be his game story today. That seems like a lot of pressure to put on him when he gets back, if you ask me.
@35 from prior thread. He always plays Puttin’ on the Ritz for Garrett Cooper….. 🙂
Obviously, Acuna will make a difference but the bullpen has to get straightened out too. They are supposed to be one of the best in baseball and they just blew two games.
To me, the one thing that has stood out is the starting pitching seems to be working pretty well. Yes, it’s inconsistent and we have had a couple of very poor starts but, overall, they look pretty good as a group. A few runs, a little relief help, and this team may go on a real tear.
I was concerned that we would have to pay way too much for a 4th starter at some point well before the deadline. If Wright keeps pitching like he has, 4th starter is not something we need to worry about.
If Acuña just provides some improvement in outfield defense, that’ll be good news. Between that and giving up a lot of walks, it seems like we’re giving away easy runs so far.
Watching Camargo playing short in Philly tonight.
Saw 2 plays, both throws to Hoskins at first.
First was ok, second arrived as a wicked short hop/half volley which was miraculously gathered/smothered in.
Over to you guys then.
Mets/Cards: You don’t very often see Nolan Arenado make a bonehead play that could cost his team a ballgame… but he just made one.
Rosario to get eye laser treatment, out 8 to 12 weeks.
I was actually thinking that yesterday, that his eyes must be the problem. Nobody is that bad.
I see a Preston Tucker sighting in our near future if Rosario goes on the 60-day IL. It’d be a great time for Waters if he was anywhere to be seen. They’re gonna go for a lefty. You don’t think they’d call Harris, do you?
I suppose they might just go to Acuna.
For anyone who has had LASIK, can you explain why Rosario will be out 2-3 months? I thought the recovery period was only a couple of days. Understandably it might be a bit longer when your profession involves hitting 100mph pitches, but 8-12 weeks sounds excessive. Or is this some sort of much more complicated and invasive procedure he’s getting?
It’s not LASIK. It’s surgery on his retina. That’s no small thing.
Damn, that sucks for Eddie.
Whilst the Rosario prognosis is unfortunate, at least that may be part of the reason for his struggles
There are a few others without that to fall back on…
But, as usual, Max will fix all ills today
Man…retina surgery is a big deal. It is interesting that he’d likely be back at about the same time the Braves acquired him last year.
And William Woods is getting promoted. Holy smokes!
And this…is insane!
Boy, do I wish we would’ve signed Soler. Rosario will always be an Atlanta hero, but I hope beyond hope that this isn’t a Nick Esasky situation.
I think we need a left handed bat now. Cedric Mullins would be a great fit
@14 FAKE NEWS!
That video combines footage of an actual check-swing hit for Mike Trout (which as you can see, barely gets past 1B) with footage of a HR he hit down the RF line.
https://www.mlb.com/news/mike-trout-triples-on-check-swing
@16
Indeed, Mullins would be a great fit
He would also be very costly and the cupboard is a little bare after the Olson acquisition
New thread and yes, I got duped @14. I can’t believe I fell for it.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2022/04/26/eddie-rosario-to-undergo-laser-eye-surgery-could-miss-8-12-weeks/