The Braves lost to the Marlins 4-2 on Saturday in Miami. It was their fourth consecutive loss.
Here are five takeaways from Saturday:
1. There’s a tired cliché, when life isn’t going accordingly, that “the ball isn’t bouncing your way,” or some variant of the phrase. The Braves are living it. Saturday showed again they have little margin for error.
A leadoff walk in the first inning turned into a run. The Braves later had a runner thrown out at the plate. Each of the four Marlins who scored at one point had two strikes during their at-bat. To top it off, Marlins slugger Jesus Aguilar accidently made contact with a pitch on a check swing in the ninth, somehow clearing the ball past the infield and adding an insurance run.
“That’s pretty much where we’re at,” manager Brian Snitker said.
2. One of the few bright spots of the afternoon was first baseman Freddie Freeman, whose second hit was a two-run homer off Anthony Bass to cut into Miami’s lead in the eighth. It was Freeman’s 15th home run and second in three days following his ninth-inning game-tying shot Thursday.
3. Braves starter Max Fried wasn’t at his best, but his outing was defined by two poorly placed pitches. He surrendered solo home runs to Adam Duvall and Lewin Diaz in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively. Marlins starter Zach Thompson, meanwhile, shut out the Braves over five innings.
Fried hadn’t allowed a home run since his May 5 start versus Washington, a five-start stretch. Diaz was the first left-handed hitter to homer off Fried this season.
“You get two strikes on guys, you have to make quality pitches,” Fried said. “Fastball was a little too down, and Duvey put a good swing on it. And I left a slider in the middle of the plate (against Diaz). When you have two strikes and you throw some not-quality pitches, that’s what happens.”
4. Duvall has feasted against his old team. Saturday provide Duvall’s 12th homer, four of which have come against the Braves. Duvall was an important part of the record-setting 2020 Braves, but the team non-tendered him over the winter. He landed in Miami, an upstart franchise that was seeking a power boost.
“I think his times here were good, and he has good memories here; I don’t think he harbors any ill-will,” Snitker said. “He gets it’s a business. He’s a good player. Knowing him like I do, I don’t think he’s the kind of guy (to feel negatively about the Braves).”
5. The Braves fell to six games back in the National League East after the Mets finished off the Padres in Queens. It’s the Braves’ greatest divisional deficit since the end of 2017, when they finished 72-90.
This is the Braves’ fourth four-game losing streak through 62 games this season. They only had two such streaks across the past two campaigns.
“We can continue to prepare and play hard,” Snitker said. “You have to handle it. We’ve been through this all year where we have to handle tough situations. And these guys have. We just haven’t gotten off the ground and running for any extended period. It’s tough to go through.”
Stat to know
4-6 (The Braves were 10-1 in Fried’s starts during the shortened 2020 season. They’re 4-6 in his outings in 2021.)
Quotable
“We have a lot of talent in this clubhouse. A lot of good baseball players who’ve done this before. It’s just about staying with ourselves, trying not to do too much and play our game. And things will fall right eventually. That’s the mentality you have to have.” - Fried
Up next
The Braves and Marlins finish their series Sunday. Braves lefty Drew Smyly (2-3, 5.82) will oppose Marlins right-hander Pablo Lopez (2-3, 2.76).
