The Braves completed one of their ugliest series in recent years Thursday, losing 16-7 as the Brewers completed a sweep. It was the Braves’ fifth consecutive loss.
Here are five takeaways from Thursday:
1. It’s hard to remember a worse home performance for the Braves than the past few days. The Brewers, whom the Braves took two of three against last week in Milwaukee, completely dismantled the Braves. They outscored them 35-12 in three games. They had two wins of nine-plus runs. They pitched better. They fielded better. They hit better. They dominated the Braves in every facet.
Was it more about the Braves’ horrific play or the Brewers catching fire?
“Probably a combination of both,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We weren’t very good, obviously. That might be an understatement today.”
This latest spiral has cost the Braves in the wild-card standings. If the Mets defeat the Rockies on Thursday, they’ll overtake the Braves by a half-game for the third and final wild-card spot. As preposterous as the thought would’ve been months ago, the Braves are at real risk of missing the postseason altogether if their play doesn’t drastically improve.
2. The Braves finished a 2-5 homestand, which included splitting four games with the Marlins after they won the first two games. This Brewers series, though, was a new low point in a season that’s had many. The Brewers had 52 hits (16 for extra bases). Twelve different players knocked in a run. Even when the Braves have had trying stretches over the past six years, they were rarely dismantled like this.
“Just not a very good series,” third baseman Austin Riley said. “It was pretty rough.”
Another example of how poorly it unfolded: infielder Luke Williams pitched in two of the three games. He covered more innings total (three) than Charlie Morton (2-2/3).
“We’ve had four short starts in a row,” Snitker said. “It’s tough on your bullpen. The best thing to come out of it was Luke Williams covering two innings for us. That’s huge.”
3. This was one of the tougher outings of Morton’s career. He surrendered a career-most four homers in under three innings. He was charged with eight runs on nine hits in only 2-2/3 frames. As a result, the Braves had to use three relievers (and Williams) with a 10-game trip coming up and no off-days.
Morton said he felt good entering the game, but he credited the Brewers for giving him no margin for error.
“I look back and it’s just like, the way my ball has been spinning, the way it’s been moving, it’s no better or worse than normal; I just think they’re a really good team and the windows there for me today weren’t big at all. There was barely any chase. … You really had to make the right pitches in the right situations because they’re very patient.”
Morton, 40, has had some clunkers this season. The latest raised his ERA from 3.94 to 4.47 (21 starts).
4. Riley homered for the second consecutive game, blasting a three-run shot off Frankie Montas in the third. It was his third home run in seven games this month. Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna hit his 33rd home run, putting him one behind the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for the National League lead.
5. Reliever Parker Dunshee made his MLB debut, allowing five earned runs on four hits across 2-1/3 innings. He struck out three, walked two and surrendered a couple of homers after following Morton. The Braves promoted Dunshee before the game. The 29-year-old grinded through seven years in the minors to get an opportunity.
“The kid signed in ‘17, he grinded his way through the minor leagues and pitched in the big leagues today,” Snitker said. “Who knows if he’ll do it again, I don’t know, but good for him for what he went through to get to this point. He’s on the list. I admire guys like that who go through the struggle and the grind.”
Stat to know
18-for-56 (The Brewers went 18-for-56 (.321) with runners in scoring position during a three-game series.)
Quotable
“They did everything right and we couldn’t get anything going.” – Riley
Up next
The Braves take a 10-game trip to Colorado, San Francisco and Anaheim beginning Friday. They’ll start Grant Holmes (0-0, 3.00 ERA) in the series opener against the Rockies.
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