The Braves’ losing streak reached four games with Tuesday’s 8-1 loss to the Cardinals. It dropped them to .500 (38-38) at SunTrust Park. It gave up precious ground in the National League East.
Hey, at least they had seven walk-free innings. Until two came around to hurt them in St. Louis’ four-run eighth.
In all, this short stretch will probably be a blip on the radar. September performance doesn’t translate to October. Defeating the Phillies this weekend would make these few days negligible, though the swoon could cost the Braves home-field advantage in the National League Division Series, a privilege they may be better without.
“It’s a crazy situation, how we play at home instead of (on the road),” starter Anibal Sanchez said. “We play the same. I don’t think we play here differently than when we’re away. The situation that’s happening is crazy. But I believe everything is going to change soon. It has to.”
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Sanchez has not only earned his way onto the potential postseason rotation, there’s a case he deserves to be the team’s game 1 starter if they make it to the playoffs. The veteran made one mistake – Paul DeJong took him deep in the fourth – in an otherwise steady night.
The 34-year-old’s changeup looked potent. He’s generating more movement now than perhaps any other time in his career. A mid-March signee, he’s been the team’s most reliable pitcher, and as skeptics waited for the drop-off, he’s maintained his crispness through the final month.
Sanchez went six innings, striking out nine and walking none. His colleagues walked 39 hitters in the past five games, so his sharp command of the strike zone was a welcome change.
“I don’t feel that good; we lost,” Sanchez said. “I wanted to do better to keep the score down, (help) the team win. ... Hopefully we just run it back tomorrow with a different result.”
Mike Foltynewicz has the higher ceiling, while Kevin Gausman’s been solid since coming over from Baltimore at the trade deadline. But Sanchez is building a case to start game 1 of a potential playoff series.
The Braves know what they’ll get from him. There’s a smaller range of outcomes. That matters when managing a bullpen for a best-of-five series.
“He’s been fantastic all year,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “All you can ask for is a chance to win the ballgame. That’s what he did for us tonight. Six strong innings and we just didn’t get it done.”
The ageless wonder rebounded nicely from a five-walk outing in San Francisco last week. His ERA is 3.01, pairing well with his 127 strikeouts. He threw only 89 pitches Tuesday, though he’s exceeded that number in four of his past five outings.
“He was real efficient,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Did a great job. Gave us a chance to win. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively to give him a chance.”
Strangely, the Braves are 3-5 in his past eight starts. He entered the night averaging 3.61 runs of support, the lowest total on the team’s staff.
The offense couldn’t do much against the Cardinals’ Austin Gomber. Ronald Acuna launched a solo homer, his 26th of the season, but the team couldn’t chain together hits. Freeman had three hits and Nick Markakis doubled, but they couldn’t engineer runs. The Braves stranded 12 runners.
“Like I said yesterday, we didn’t get the big hits, and we didn’t do it again tonight,” Freeman said. “Things have got to change. That’s four games in a row we haven’t played a complete baseball game. And when one side does well, the other side doesn’t.”
St. Louis tacked on insurance in the eighth against Jonny Venters and Dan Winkler. Matt Carpenter walked and came around to score on DeJong’s single. Yadier Molina’s single off Sam Freeman, along with Acuna’s fielding error, helped the Cardinals build a five-run lead.
The ball slipped under Acuna’s glove, rolling deep into the outfield as embarrassment felt evident to everyone in the park. It was perhaps the defining mishap of this homestand, where the team is 1-4.
The Braves are 4-14 at home since Aug. 16. They’re in optimal position because of their NL-best road record, but the home results cast a cloud over the thought this group could win a postseason series.
Of course, to even have a shot at doing so, they’ll need to make it first.
“We’ve been down this road before a few times this year,” Snitker said. “All it takes is one game to get you rolling and get you back on a run. We’ve been resilient. We’ve come back before. There’s no reason to think we won’t do it again. Guys just have to relax, play their game and let it fly.”
Meanwhile, Philadelphia rallied from a 2-0 hole to defeat the Mets 5-2. They trail the Braves by 5 ½ games, with an astronomically important four-game series between the teams set to begin at SunTrust Park on Thursday.
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