I’m not alone in my view that movie sequels are rarely very good. In fact, many film buffs/critics will tell you that The Godfather Part 2 is the only truly great sequel that’s ever been made. (FWIW, it’s the only one of two sequels to ever win an Oscar for Best Picture.)

I know, I know… fans of The Terminator, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings franchises, for example, would like a word. And OK, The Dark Night was, y’know, alright…

But when I think of sequels, I think of Jaws 2, where the shark eats a helicopter. Or Staying Alive, the Sly Stallone-directed Saturday Night Fever sequel, that has John Travolta dancing to music by Sly’s brother Frank, not The Bee Gees. Or Caddyshack 2 with a mumbling Jackie Mason, not the hysterically obnoxious Rodney Dangerfield. The list of sucky sequels is long.

Unfortunately for us, tonight was another sucky sequel. After Tuesday’s 7-1 drubbing, the Atlanta bats remained quiet with only 3 hits, as the AL-East leading Tampa Bay Rays again thumped our Bravos, 7-2, with Griffin Jax easily besting Reynaldo Lopéz. And… the Phils win over Houston sliced our NL-East division lead to 3 games.

The Game: For Lopéz, things got messy quickly. In the 2nd w/ one out, Rays RF Victor Mesa, Jr., deposited a belt-high heater into the last row of the Chop House. 1-0 TB.

Then, after a Chandler Simpson single, a disengagement infraction that sent him to 2nd, and a Richie Palacios walk, the two executed a double steal. Great idea by Tampa because SS Jorge Mateo immediately looped a 2-RBI single into shallow CF – 3-0 TB.

If the 2nd inning was a bit of a horror show, then the 4th was its sequel, as Lopéz found trouble again with the same cast of characters. A Mesa single, a Simpson walk and a Cedric Mullins single made it 4-0 Tampa. A Palacios single made it 5-0. A perfect sac bunt from Mateo and a deep sac fly from Yandy Díaz made it 6-0 – another three spot – and Braves fans started looking at the out-of-town scoreboard.

In the bottom of the 4th, Drake showed some life by whacking a 3-1 Jax sinker over the CF fence for his 23rd dinger of ’26. 6-1 TB. In the 6th, Drake again led the charge (relatively speaking) with a walk. RAJ then doubled him to 3rd & Olson scored him with a sac fly – 6-2 TB. But the Rays tightened their chokehold in the 7th by touching up Victor Mederos – a HBP & 2 singles producing another run – 7-2 TB. After that, Atlanta never seriously threatened.

Notes: After Lopéz’s rough start (4.2 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 3 BB), the bullpen shock troops (Ray Kerr, Mederos & Bailey Falter) pitched just fine (4.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB). Ozzie, riding a 4-for-31 month so far, was dropped to 7th in the lineup – he went 0 for 3.

So, a bad night, a sucky sequel & a comeback win in Philly that leaves the evil cheesesteaks within lurking distance. Tune in tomorrow afternoon at 12:15 pm, as the Braves attempt to salvage a win in the series finale… Rays ace Nick Martinez (14-4, 3.04 ERA) vs. Braves lefty Martín Pérez (8-9, 3.25). Go Braves.