Another night to forget that saw the scoreless streak extend to 29 innings.
Is it possible to hit rock bottom on the fifth day of a 162-game baseball season? Because it feels like the Braves are awfully close.
On Monday night, just hours after they learned prized offseason addition Jurickson Profar will miss the next 80 games to a PED suspension, the Braves fell to the Dodgers, 6-1.
Atlanta is 0-5 for the seventh time in the history of the franchise.
It was once again a lifeless, pathetic performance at the plate. The Braves extended their scoreless streak to an astounding 29 innings before Michael Harris hit a solo homer to center. They offered little resistance to Tyler Glasnow and the Dodgers bullpen.
The one glimmer of hope early came in the 2nd inning as Marcell Ozuna and Ozzie Albies drew walks to begin the inning. Drake Baldwin smoked a baseball to left-center field, but for the second time in a week, it feel about a foot short and found a glove. Despite having runners on the corners and one out, Jarred Kelenic and Bryan De La Cruz were unable to drive in a run.
Grant Holmes tossed an inefficient four innings. He gave up four runs on four hits and four walks, including a first inning two-run blast to Teoscar Hernandez to put Atlanta in an early hole. Enyel De Los Santos threw an inning and gave up a run. Jesse Chavez made his Braves re-debut and gave up a homer to the first batter he faced. Raisel Iglesias pitched the 8th just to feel something and keep his arm loose after not pitching all week.
I wished there was some level of in-depth analysis I could give, but this team flat-out stinks — and they seemingly haven’t caught a break all season long, either. They can’t hit. They can’t pitch well enough to overcome the lineup that can’t hit. They’re getting killed on the base paths.
At least there’s still 157 games left to try and figure it out?
The Braves will turn to Chris Sale on Tuesday night for their first win of the season. He will be opposed by Dustin May, who is quite talented but has barely pitched the last few seasons with unrelenting injuries. First pitch is 10:10 p.m. ET.