CHICAGO – The Braves’ win streak ended at 14 games with a 1-0 loss to the Cubs on Friday at Wrigley Field.
But the Braves still are 37-28. Things are going well when your first loss in June isn’t until June 17.
Here are five observations:
1. Throughout the two-week streak, many statistics exemplified the Braves’ dominance.
They outscored opponents by 60 runs over the 14 games. They had hit the most home runs this month. And on and on.
Here is another: Before Friday’s eighth inning, when A.J. Minter allowed a run, the Braves had gone 43 innings without trailing in a game. The Pirates took the lead on the Braves in the fifth inning of the June 11 game. The Braves piled on two innings later.
From there, they rolled.
“It’s a lot of fun,” starting pitcher Charlie Morton said after Friday’s loss. “We got a really good group. When you go on a streak like that, the clubhouse is really loose. I foresee it being the same, I foresee it being the exact same. Winning is a byproduct. Sure, it can help to get on a little bit of a streak. But I think that’s a result of the clubhouse, where guys are individually and as a group.”
2. What was the most impressive part of this streak?
“Maybe how it all started,” Morton said. “I think it would’ve been easy to say, ‘All right, we basically played sub.-500, around .500 ball for four months last year, everything’s going to work out, it’ll be OK.’ The guys kind of stepped on the gas pedal a little bit there and really took control of the situation. I think that speaks to the group.”
Morton brings up a good point. All along, you could never truly count out the Braves because their 2021 team is the example of how things can quickly change. But they didn’t rest on that reputation, either.
Here’s the truth: As of now, it appears the Mets are for real. They are talented. They don’t have many holes. The Braves couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
When June began, the Braves were 10.5 games back of the Mets in the NL East. They pulled within 4.5 games back by Thursday’s off-day. Friday’s loss pushed them to five back, pending New York’s result Friday night.
The Braves showed they won’t go quietly this season.
3. You cannot blame the wind, as both teams have to deal with it. But it’s fair to note that the Braves might have been a calm day away from winning their 15th consecutive game.
In the Windy City, the Wrigley Field wind was blowing in all afternoon. The Braves hit four balls that looked like they might have been homers without the wind.
Marcell Ozuna crushed a ball that had a 91% hit probability, but ended as a 374-foot flyout.
Ronald Acuña hammered a ball 105 mph to center field, and it had an 83% hit probability. The wind pushed it back and it landed in a glove.
Matt Olson and Dansby Swanson also had flyouts that looked like they could’ve ended differently on another day.
“I know the wind is a big factor here,” Olson said. “If it’s blowing out, definitely Ozuna and Acuña have homers. … It could be different. That’s what we had today, and that’s part of it. It happens.”
Chicago’s Keegan Thompson held the Braves scoreless over six innings.
They won’t blame the wind. But ...
“We hit homers,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s kind of who we are. We had four of them that got pushed back. That’s kind of the game.”
4. Before Friday, Minter had not allowed an earned run since April 24, when he gave up two.
He had gone 21 innings without an earned run crossing the plate against him. Opponents hit .174 off him in that span.
His biggest mistake: Walking leadoff man Jonathan Villar, who eventually scored on a sacrifice fly.
Minter still has a 1.26 ERA.
5. Morton tossed seven shutout innings in the loss.
His best pitch, the curveball, looked great. On 18 swings against it, the Cubs whiffed 12 times.
Morton finished with nine strikeouts.
Stat to know
4-The Braves went down 1-2-3 in four innings of Friday’s game.
Quotable
“We were just able to win games different ways. Go out and have starts like Charlie did today and win by one, or go out and score 15 runs and win by a bunch that way. Able to get a couple big hits along the way and make some good plays. That’s why we had such a long winning streak, and we’ll hopefully start a new one tomorrow.” - Olson on the streak
Up next
In Saturday’s game, which begins at 2:20 p.m. ET, righty Kyle Wright faces Chicago’s Justin Steele.
