Braves buried by Giants, lose second consecutive series

Up until Wednesday’s loss, the Braves ended almost every postgame press conference with a touch of positivity. Phrases such as “go on a run” and “good team” were repeatedly used, as players and coaches insisted the team would eventually turn its season around.

But for the first time this year, the Braves honestly addressed reality with 61 games left to play.

“It’s embarrassing,” said starting pitcher Spencer Strider. “At some point, you can’t keep thinking that you’re better than you’re playing. I think at this point, we’ve got to be brutally honest with ourselves.”

That brutal honesty involves recognizing what could occur at the impending trade deadline. The Braves will likely be sellers — a situation they’ve yet to find themselves in under the tandem of manager Brian Snitker and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos — and could see teammates such as Marcell Ozuna, Raisel Iglesias and Pierce Johnson traded to new clubs.

Strider said the reality of losing teammates is one the players have addressed in group conversations.

“There are consequences for our failure,” Strider said. “It’s something that we’ve talked about as a group for the last couple months, is just the direction that we’re headed, that we might be saying goodbye to some friends if we don’t turn things around. And unfortunately, we might be in that boat now.”

The Braves exited MLB’s All-Star break five days ago with momentum, as the club came out swinging in a 7-3 victory over the Yankees. But the team’s inconsistency led to a 2-4 record since the break.

And on Wednesday, the club had no answers for Giants starter Justin Verlander, who no-hit the Braves through the first four innings. But statistics aside, Verlander’s outing was far from the three-time Cy Young Award Winner’s previous appearances.

Verlander dominated on the final box score — with one hit allowed across five innings — but he gave the Braves opportunities; they just could not cash them in. The club went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base, after finishing 0-for-10 in those situations the night before with 12 runners left on.

“(Opposing pitchers) have just been able to find a way to get us out when we’re in those situations to get runs in,” Michael Harris II said.

The Braves’ scoring chances came as early as the bottom of the first inning when Verlander issued three walks in a 40-pitch first inning.

But the Braves let him escape unscathed and did not break though, offensively, until the seventh when they already trailed 9-0. The club recorded four of its seven hits during the three-run inning that made the final score more respectable.

Strider matched Verlander for the first four frames — even having a 31-pitch first inning of his own with a pair of walks — but the Giants broke through in the fifth.

Rafael Devers sent a slider Strider threw in the dirt into right-field seats for a home run (his first of two that he hit Wednesday), and Matt Chapman tacked on with a two-run shot of his own.

“That kid is one of the most competitive people I’ve ever been around,” Snitker said of Strider, who appeared frustrated with his outing that consisted of three runs allowed in five innings. “I feel like he’s navigating uncharted waters here, but he’s coming back and taking the ball.”

Neither pitch to Devers or Chapman were bad locations — especially the slider in the dirt to Devers — but that did not make Strider’s outing any easier for the 26-year-old to accept. He expects to perform flawlessly every time he takes the mound.

“The (hit-by-pitch) after (Devers’ first home run) and then the homer to Chapman, at that point, becomes a very dejecting inning for our team,” Strider said. “And is a much bigger hole for the guys to try to climb out of than a 1-0 deficit.”

The Giants added to their lead with six more runs against the Braves’ bullpen — all attributed to the 1.2 innings pitched by Dylan Dodd and Dane Dunning — and the club’s offense did not show signs of life until its late rally.

The Braves will travel to Arlington, Texas, on Friday for a three-game series with the Rangers.