The simple truth is that, in the moment, Sunday had to be a devastating experience of the Braves.
On the brink of getting a series win due to one of their best offensive stretches of the season, the Braves’ bullpen instead struggled and Atlanta lost 9-8 to the Rockies on Sunday due to allowing seven runs to score in the eighth inning. This likely was the worst lost of the season, and the bullpen implosion is a bit more worrisome than in the past due to the recent struggles of Atlanta’s relief core. Overall, the term “rock bottom” for this team and this season keeps being redefined.
The series loss to the Rockies after getting embarrassed in three straight losses to the Brewers made this week one of the worst in recent memory for the Braves. Furthermore, with the recent struggles of the Phillies and Mets, Atlanta has also missed out on a grand opportunity to strengthen their position in the NL Playoff Picture and the NL East.
However, due to those same struggles for other teams, a bit of a silver lining remains in place: After being out of the playoff picture entering Saturday, the Braves remain in the playoff picture entering Monday.
This in no way should diminish how disappointing Sunday’s loss was or how significant of a missed opportunity the past few weeks have been.
But what matters more than Sunday’s loss now is how the Braves react to it. Because they now embark on a four game series with the Giants, a team currently 1 1⁄2 games out of the last NL Wild Card spot currently held by the Braves. Furthermore, Atlanta will face three straight lefties to start this series with a hot offense that performs significantly better versus southpaws than righties. If Atlanta can use Sunday as motivation to find more consistency, a few wins to start the week could minimize any lasting impact from yesterday.
Braves News
Michael Harris II continues to look impressive during his rehab assignment with the Stripers. Harris II could join the Braves during their time in San Francisco if all continues to go well.
After being designated for assignment over the weekend, Eddie Rosario elected free agency instead of going to the Stripers.
Justin Toscano discusses how the Braves are looking the to pick the pieces once again after experiencing another rare and highly disappointing way to lose.
Mark Bowman of mlb.com detailed how quickly things went from hopeful from horrible for the Braves in the eighth inning.
MLB News
The latest power rankings from MLB.com are out and the Braves are currently ranked in the 13th position.
The Phillies lost to the Diamondbacks and the Mets lost to the Mariners, once again showing how much the top of the NL East has struggled in recent weeks.
Dodgers rookie River Ryan is done for the season due to a UCL injury in his elbow.
Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran issued an apology after an unfortunate incident with a fan on Sunday.
James Paxton of the Red Sox left Sunday’s start with a calf injury and will have an MRI on Monday for further evaluation.
Julio Rodriguez was activated off the 10-day injured list for the Mariners on Monday. Rodriguez had been out over the past few weeks due to an ankle injury.
