Why the Braves left Connor Thomas in during 14-3 loss to the Mets
NEW YORK — The Braves’ bullpen was so taxed Monday that left-handed reliever Connor Thomas was left on the mound as a sacrificial lamb.
It’s a bit of a harsh assessment, but one based in hard truth. After a hard-fought weekend in Baltimore, in which Braves relief pitching was asked to do so much, there was simply no one else to pitch Monday. So even in a 3-3 game in the sixth inning on the road against a division rival, the Braves had to turn to Thomas, a soft-tossing 28-year-old pitching in just his fourth MLB game.
“If we had a lead, we might have pressed a couple (relievers) into action,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “But tied or down, none of ’em were pitching.”
Thus, after 5½ innings at Citi Field, Thomas emerged from the right field bullpen gate and trotted to the mound through a steady rain. Only a weather delay could have saved him from what transpired next.
Marcus Semien hit a two-run homer two batters into the frame to make it 5-3. In the seventh, Tyrone Taylor hit a three-run bomb and Bo Bichette scored another with a sacrifice fly. Thomas walked in a run in the eighth and allowed another on a sacrifice fly before Francisco Lindor cranked a three-run homer (his second of the night) to give the Mets a 14-3 lead.
Braves starter Martín Pérez allowed three earned runs over five innings, good enough to keep his team in the game. But because he had thrown 89 pitches and escaped a bases-loaded jam during a rainy fifth inning, the game was handed over to Thomas.
“I feel so bad for that kid (Thomas),” Pérez said. “I feel so bad for that kid going and giving up a lot of hits and runs. But he knows he’s got all our support. And it’s part of the game, too.”
Over the weekend, the Braves took two of three games from the Orioles but used eight pitchers to throw 14 innings of relief. The team has only had a starter go more than seven innings nine times in 106 games.
“We were in back-to-back extra-inning games. We’re in the middle of 17 (games) in a row. We just couldn’t push the issue (Monday),” Weiss said. “We couldn’t chase anything. Even in a tie game, we couldn’t afford to chase that with our leverage guys. It’s where we’re at today.”
It’s likely Thomas will be optioned to Triple-A on Tuesday, not so much because of his performance (he allowed 11 earned runs on 10 hits and five walks in 2⅔ innings), but because the Braves will need a fresh arm for the remainder of the series and the rest of the week. That way Monday’s debacle becomes more of anomaly and not the norm.