The Braves had the best bullpen, ERA-wise, in MLB for the last six weeks. That run had an expiration date, and that turned out to be Sunday.
A five-run eighth-inning meltdown cost the Braves in their 8-5 loss to the Mets. It wrapped up a 6-4 road trip but prevented the Braves from sweeping a series in Queens.
“These guys have been pushed hard,” manager Brian Snitker said. “These have been 10 tough games. A tough road trip, we won two series and split one. It took a lot out of us and caught up with us tonight a little bit.”
Up 5-3 entering the eighth, the Braves bullpen imploded. Todd Frazier crushed a home run off Sean Newcomb. Two more Mets reached before Newcomb retired consecutive hitters. Nonetheless, he was as erratic as he’s been since moving to the bullpen and Snitker replaced him with A.J. Minter.
Minter walked Michael Conforto, loading the bases. Jeff McNeil’s single scored the tying and go-ahead runs. Pete Alonso’s double gave the Mets two more.
Collapse complete. It was an atrocious showing by a relief group that’s been outstanding lately. Make no mistake, the Braves need bullpen help. They’ll pursue upgrades in the next month. But sometimes bad nights happen, and Sunday was certainly an example.
"We had the best bullpen in the last month and a half,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “It's just one game. It's going to happen. As much as we want them to be perfect, it's just not going to happen. They've been the best for a long time so we'll get right back at them on Tuesday.”
The lengthy road trip featured a split in Chicago between series wins over the Nationals and Mets. Surprisingly, those were the team’s first trips to Washington and New York this season, leaving two each remaining.
After beginning the trip up 4-1/2 games, the Braves return home up 5-1/2 with the Phillies coming to town this week. They missed a pair of opportunities — the finales in Chicago and New York — but still managed to gain ground.
Division standings
They went 20-8 in June, with the Phillies going 11-16. They opened the month trailing Philadelphia by two games in the National League East. They set a new franchise record with 56 homers in the month.
“Twenty wins, that’s pretty impressive,” Freeman said. “It’s hard to do that. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and see what you really accomplished during a month. We’ve extended our lead, 5-1/2 games, and we’ve got Philly coming in now. So hopefully we get off to a good start in July.”
While the offense has carried the Braves through the month, the bullpen has protected those late leads. It appeared the bats would do it again Sunday, when Freeman’s two-run double in the seventh broke a tie.
Freeman’s double notched his 32nd and 33rd RBIs in June, setting a new team record. Freeman wasn’t aware of the feat but said it’d matter more if they’d won.
The Braves are off Monday before beginning a six-game homestand to end the first half. They’ll play the Phillies and Marlins before entering the All-Star break.
