The Braves beat the Reds early this morning after they failed to score with no outs and the bases loaded in the 11th inning and walked home the go-ahead run plus another, both unearned, in the 13th. They won when Chase d'Arnaud mercifully ended the game with a walk-off single after 5 hours and 18 minutes of farce.
The Reds can win the series with a victory at Turner Field but they can’t complete the four-game sweep. No matter what happens, after watching the Braves flail for three games against an opponent in their weight class, I wonder: How much worse can things get for the Braves?
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They probably won't get '62 Mets bad (40-120, yikes). But look at this list of the 21 worst MLB seasons in the modern era and tell me these Braves couldn't end up on it. Certainly the '88 Braves (54-106) are in reach. Posting the worst record in the franchise's Atlanta history would be the final, fitting kiss-off to Fulton County as the Braves flee to the 'burbs.
Before the season FanGraphs predicted the Braves would finish 67-95 . Before last night's game FanGraphs projected the Braves would finish 57-105. Might be time to recalculate again.
Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps it’s just a visceral response to watching the Braves slog through three games against the Reds, who are really bad. But consider:
The Reds have the second-worst record in the NL and are primed to take three of four from the Braves. The Braves lost two of three last week at the Padres, who have the third-worst record in the NL. They were swept last month at Turner Field by the D-Backs, who have the fourth-worst record in the NL.
The Cubs won two of three against the Braves over the weekend, with a total margin of 21-4 in the victories. But Jeff Francoeur wryly noted: “We are actually 2-3 against them, which is pretty good considering what they’ve done to everybody else. We’ve got the Reds for four and it would be nice to take three out of four from them.”
It didn’t happen.
In the opener, Braves rookie Aaron Blair got beat up again. The Reds’ bullpen, which might be the worst I’ve ever seen, kept the Braves in it. The Braves’ pen kept giving it back until their best reliever, Arodys Vizcaino, walked two straight batters in the ninth to bring home the go-ahead run.
In the second game of the series Julio Teheran gave up just three hits but one of them was a three-run homer. The Braves loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth in that game and didn’t score, losing 3-1.
The Braves won the third game against the Reds because … well, somebody had to win eventually. Not to discount d'Arnaud's game winner or Freddie Freeman hitting for the cycle or another solid outing from Bud Norris but, really, the Braves won a battle of attrition between two bad teams.
The Braves are 44-99 since they were 42-42 last July 7. I think the Braves team that finished last season was better than this Braves team is now. We'll see how much worse things can get.
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