Monday was a forgettable homestand opener for the Braves, who lost 7-3 to the Phillies amid myriad miscues. The Braves dropped to 19-23.
Here are five takeaways from Monday:
1. Manager Brian Snitker shuffled his lineup hoping it’d result in a rejuvenated offense. “I probably had too much coffee this morning,” he said before the game. Perhaps Snitker will try decaf if the revamped order doesn’t soon produce more runs.
Despite 11 hits, the Braves couldn’t string together enough offense to keep pace after falling into an early hole. The offense’s up-and-down nature showed again, but four individual multi-hit efforts, including one from Austin Riley, at least left Snitker optimistic.
“It was really good to see Riley, when he barreled those two balls,” Snitker said. “That was encouraging as all get-out. Marcell (Ozuna), Ozzie (Albies) has started swinging the bat a little bit. Hopefully this thing is slowly translating into being something.”
William Contreras, making his first start in left field, had the game’s first hit with a first-inning double. He tried scoring from second on Ozuna’s ensuing single only to be thrown out at home. Contreras and Ozuna each had two hits.
Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, a Smyrna native who’s often found success against the Braves, allowed two runs on eight hits, striking out 10 over 6 ⅔ innings (though his performance was better than the line). He matched his season high in strikeouts (nine) through just four innings. The Phillies built a seven-run advantage over that time.
2. Braves starter Tucker Davidson, who tossed five scoreless frames to earn his first career win in his last outing, surrendered three runs in the second inning. It started with a leadoff walk to Kyle Schwarber. Two of the next three Phillies reached, setting up Rhys Hoskins’ double to deep center that cleared the bases.
Davidson was hurt by another walk to Schwarber in the third. With two down, he lost a nine-pitch battle with the slugger, who then scored on J.T. Realmuto’s triple into the left-field corner. Davidson was removed with a 4-0 deficit after 2 ⅔ innings. He allowed four hits and walked four, throwing 76 pitches (45 strikes).
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Davidson said. “I heard on the broadcast I had seven full counts. That’s unacceptable, in a way. You can’t expect to go deep in a game and help out the bullpen on that end.”
Davidson said his primary takeaway is to be consistently aggressive and “let my stuff play.” Snitker said the team plans for Davidson to start in his next turn, though he didn’t guarantee that’d be the case. The Braves have struggled to find a reliable fifth starter.
3. Monday was a disappointing follow-up to Davidson’s excellent start in Milwaukee. He induced only eight whiffs in 34 swings. His fastball velocity averaged 93.6 mph, down a tick from his 94.4 season average. In Davidson’s two appearances (one start) surrounding his five scoreless frames against the Brewers, he’s allowed 10 earned runs on nine hits in 5 ⅓ innings, striking out four and walking six.
“He’s been around a while now, you have to trust your stuff, be aggressive and let it fly,” Snitker said. “You have nothing to lose. Guys as they’re learning this, they need to trust their stuff. His stuff is good. We saw that the last outing. Coming off that, I was expecting him to do that again. … Hopefully he learns from it and puts it to good use next time.”
4. The Braves’ defense made several mistakes, even though it didn’t commit an error. Adam Duvall misplayed Hoskins’ double in center, seemingly losing track of the ball. During Realmuto’s triple, Contreras was slow recovering the ball in the left-field corner. In the fourth, Bryce Harper hit a pop-up between third base and left field. There was a miscommunication between Riley and Contreras, leading to the ball finding grass.
Snitker’s assessment of Contreras’ left-field debut: “You can tell he hadn’t been out there, honestly. But it was good to get him out there. … He had some good at-bats, and that’s why I wanted him in there. I liked the fact he experienced (the position). It won’t be as big a culture shock going forward. It’ll be nice to use him out there to keep him in the lineup, too.”
5. Braves pitchers issued eight walks, continuing a season-long problem. The Braves have walked 156 hitters, the fourth-highest total in MLB. The Phillies capitalized, scoring seven runs – their most since May 14. Philadelphia averaged 2.28 runs over its last seven games entering Monday, failing to score more than four runs in any of those contests.
Stat to know
12 (Braves hitters struck out 12 times Monday, at least temporarily taking over the major-league lead with 406.)
Quotable
“We do, absolutely (have the pieces for a serviceable outfield defensively). You have to piece that stuff together sometimes until you get to where you want to go, get guys back, things like that. I think it’s definitely good enough for us to win.” – Snitker
Another sellout
The Braves announced 41,762 attended Monday’s game, which was the second of four replica ring giveaway nights (June 8 and July 11 are the remaining dates). It was the team’s 10th sellout this season.
Up next
The Braves and Phillies continue their series Tuesday when Max Fried (4-2, 3.31) faces Phillies right-hander Kyle Gibson (3-2, 3.98).
