Shortcomings are ample as Braves’ slide continues
Credit: AP
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The line score from the Braves’ 9-6 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night: Six runs, 14 hits, one error, one former MVP headed for the injury list, no players traded.
Many things happened at Kauffman Stadium, not many of them that benefited the visiting team. With the starting rotation shredded by injury, the Braves got a mediocre start out of a pitcher who had been designated for assignment last week by his previous team, their bullpen collapsed in a five-run sixth inning and the offense was once again lacking with runners in scoring position.
They fell to 45-61 to continue their second-half collapse. They’ve lost eight of 11 since the All-Star break. They have allowed eight or more runs six times, all in defeat.
Most notably, star right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. left the game in the top of the sixth inning with tightness in his right Achilles and will go on the 10-day injured list. The absence could easily be longer than that.
“You just deal with it,” manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s not fun deal with it. It’s not easy dealing with it, but you have to.”
Also, designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias, the two most likely players to be dealt ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, remained with the team. In the DH role again, Ozuna hit his second home run in as many nights, his 15th of the season.
Starting pitcher Erick Fedde, acquired Sunday from the St. Louis Cardinals after the club had designated him for assignment, made it into the fifth inning while giving up four runs, all earned. All four were surrendered in the first two innings. (He might have left the game with one run allowed had left fielder Jurickson Profar been able to make a leaping catch up against the fence that would have ended the second inning.) The 32-year-old Fedde had pitched his way out of St. Louis after recording a 13.25 ERA in his final five starts for the Cardinals.
“After those first two innings, (I) started to settle in and felt really good about the stuff,” he said. “But just didn’t make a few pitches there in that second inning. But something to build off of.”
The Braves rallied to close the gap to 4-3 in the top of the sixth inning, with Austin Riley and Ozuna both homering with two outs.
But in the bottom of the sixth, reliever Aaron Bummer allowed two base runners and was replaced by Enyel De Los Santos, who gave up a walk that loaded the bases and then a double that cleared them for a 7-3 Royals lead. De Los Santos allowed two more runs for a 9-3 advantage, more than enough for the Royals to win the game and even the series.
“We just couldn’t put that inning down,” Snitker said. “We battled back and guys are busting their rears and we just couldn’t put that inning down. We couldn’t make a pitch when we needed to.”
From July 1 through Monday, the Braves’ ERA was 5.68 – 28th in MLB –as they’ve tried to weather the losses of starting pitchers Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and Grant Holmes, to say nothing of A.J. Smith-Shawver and Reynaldo Lopez. Through June 30, it was 3.76, 12th in MLB. They were 38-45 up to that point and are now 7-16 since.
Although they were piling up 14 hits, the Braves again had trouble delivering when it counted. They were 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Through Monday, they were 18th in in MLB in batting average with RISP (.242). The two teams wlll decide the series Wednesday at 2:10 p.m. ET.
And now they’ll be without Acuña, one of the most dynamic players in the game.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
