In the Twin Cities tonight, Tyler Mahle surrendered a 2 run homer in the first, but nothing else in 6 2/3. After the rough first, Mahle looked every bit as strong as in his first two starts for Atlanta. The bullpen gave up 2 more in the 8th when Didier Fuentes uncharacteristically gave up 3 hits, including a two-rbi double.  The offense only managed a solo homer from Baldwin, thus the final score of 4-1.

Should we be worried?  Since the 8 game winning streak ended on August 6, our Braves have lost 7 of 11.  Just last Wednesday, the lead over the Phillies was 9.5; it’s now 5.5.

What’s been the problem?  It’s true that the starters haven’t kept up the phenomenal pace they were on in late July and early August.  And the bullpen is not quite as sharp lately.

Still, the pitchers gave up just 4 runs in each of the two games against the Twins this week.  If the Braves had scored the 4.8 runs in these two games that they’ve averaged this season, both games would have gone into the win column.

The glaring issue in this stretch is the offense.  In the 10 games since the streak before tonight, the Braves on base percentage was .260.  In tonight’s loss to the Twins, the Braves had 6 hits and 1 walk in 34 plate appearances, so that OBP only got worse.

Although the first three pitchers the Braves faced after August 6 were Cy Young caliber guys (the Yankees fearsome threesome), since then the opposing hurlers haven’t been guys of that pedigree.  Tonight, someone named Zebby Matthews, who had an ERA of 5 and a half coming in, completely flummoxed the Braves hitters.  Well, all except Baldwin (2 hits including a solo homer) and Harris (3 hits including 2 doubles).

Is faithful and long-time commenter Roger right about this team?  While everyone in Braves land has expressed concern with the starting rotation (and AA’s failure to improve it in the offseason or at the deadline), Roger has consistently maintained that the offense is also a concern.  Certainly the last 11 games prove that when you score 2-3 runs per game you won’t win nearly as many games as when you score 5 or more.

Or is Peter Moylan right?  He insisted after the game that it’s good thing the offense is having a slow spell; they are getting it out of the way in August, so that next month they are more likely to start slugging again.  I love Peter, but his relentless optimism is a little overwhelming.  I think of Moylan as the bizzaro version of our regular commenter Mr. Overlords.

I incline toward optimism in my fandom, so I’m going to expect the team to start scoring runs again.  Let’s do so sooner rather than later, starting tomorrow.  AJ Smith-Shawver starts in a 1:40 Eastern time start.  It will help the kid’s confidence (and mine) for the team to score at least 7 or 8.