The Braves lost 9-4 to the Reds in the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday. It’s their second doubleheader of the homestand.
Here are five takeaways from Wednesday:
1. The Bad News Braves: With two outs in the first and Reds sensation Elly De La Cruz at second, the Braves produced a sequence that perfectly illustrated how things have gone for them lately. Spencer Steer hit a ball to right field that Adam Duvall couldn’t snag, resulting in a triple. But second baseman Zack Short delivered an errant throw to the cutoff man that allowed Steer to also score.
Braves spot starter Allan Winans walked Tyler Stephenson and Jake Fraley homered to make the score 4-0 through Winans’ first 28 pitches.
“A couple pitches, a play here or there and it’s probably a different story,” manager Brian Snitker said. “And he gets settled in and maybe he covers more of the game.”
2. It never improved for Winans, who surrendered seven earned runs in 2-2/3 innings. The Braves kept it competitive because Reds starter Frankie Montas likewise was uninspiring. The Braves pulled within a run before their pitching simply couldn’t keep the Reds down.
Reliever Grant Holmes played an important role following Winans. He covered 3-1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He spared the bullpen with another game looming in hours. “It’s what he keeps doing,” Snitker said. “Holding the game there and giving us a chance to come back.”
3. On a positive note, first baseman Matt Olson had two hits, snapping an 0-for-18 skid. Olson has underachieved this season and particularly slumped in July, so he’s just trying to get himself going again.
“It’s never easy (when you’re slumping),” Olson said. “It’s magnified when it’s happening to yourself and as a team we don’t feel like we’re clicking. Any competitor is going to be hard on themselves. Unfortunately it does nothing for the present day and the future. The at-bats I’ve had are done. So you can either sit there and linger on them, worry about it, or try to learn from it. I’m trying to take that second route and continue to get this thing going and at the end of the season, hopefully (be ready) for a playoff run.”
Coming off a 54-homer campaign, Olson is hitting .223 with a .690 OPS. He has 13 homers in 100 games. Entering Wednesday, he was hitting .113 with a .394 OPS in July (17 games).
4. The Braves players held a team meeting Tuesday that generated headlines. Olson wanted to keep the details of the meeting in-house, adding: “There are times throughout the year when guys want to get together and talk.” He described the meeting as “productive.”
Asked if the meeting could benefit the team moving forward, outfielder Jarred Kelenic said the following.
“It’s a hard game,” he said. “These stretches happen. Unfortunately we’ve had our fair share of people getting hurt and we’ve had our fair share of hitting balls hard with nothing to show for it, but I do know we have a lot of guys in there who are super talented who prepare each and every day to go out and win the game. I think we’re focused on continuing to do that. That’s why the season is 162 games.”
5. The Braves have lost four of five against the Reds and Cardinals to open the second half. They’ve lost seven of 10 overall. They’ll need a win in game 2 to avoid getting swept by a Reds team that had lost four consecutive games, including getting swept in Washington, entering this series.
Stat to know
100 (The Braves completed their 100th game Wednesday. They’re 54-46.)
Quotable
“It’s pretty easy to get down, get negative. (But) the talent in our clubhouse is second to none, and also we have our fair share of leaders in the clubhouse to keep us on the right track. When stuff like this starts to compound, it can spiral. But I feel like we have such a good group of guys to get us back on track and to keep going. I feel we’re in a good spot.” – Kelenic
Up next
The Braves and Reds finish their series Wednesday evening. Chris Sale (13-3, 2.70 ERA) will face Nick Martinez (3-5, 3.88).
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