Atlanta Braves
The Braves lost their 4th game in a row last night after a late surge came up short in the end. Ozzie Albies continued to impress in another Braves loss, making it their 17th in their last 22 games.
Mike Foltynewicz made his worst start of the season after getting pulled with two outs in the third inning, allowing six earned runs on seven hits and four walks. A week ago, Mike struck out a career high (11) in one of his strongest starts of the year and five days later struck out just one in a horrific start for the Braves. Of his six hits, five were extra base-hits. He gave up a few hits off the wall and hard hit balls down the line but zero of those hits left the ballpark.
In the second inning, Folty walked the lead off hitter, then the madness came. A double by Kolten Wong followed by a single from Grichuk, another double from Matt Carpenter, another walk drawn from Tommy Pham and to top it off, a third double in the inning off the bat of Paul Dejong. A four-run second inning followed by a pair scored in the third inning. The game looked like it was all but over in the third inning.
But then Ozzie Albies took his turn in the sixth inning after an RBI single from Matt Adams to cut the lead to four. With two on and two out, Ozzie creamed a 2-1 fastball into the left field seats to make it a one-run ballgame. In the 8th inning, Rex Brothers continued with his struggles. After striking out the first two hitters in the inning, he gave up a pair of 2-out walks and then gave up two runs on another Paul Dejong RBI double. The Braves went three up, three down in the ninth as Matt Bowman recorded his second save of the season.
Adam Wainwright squeaked by with his 12th win and Folty dropped his 7th game of the season. The Cardinals improved their win streak to seven and the Braves dropped their fourth in a row, making it their 14th loss in their last 18 and 17 of their last 22. The Braves are now eleven games below .500 after being even at .500 less than a month ago. Things don’t get any easier having to play four playoff teams in their next five series.
The Cardinals have scored at least eight runs in their last six games. Lucas Sims looks to put an end to that tomorrow evening when he makes his third career start against the Cardinal’s ace, Carlos Martinez, at a 7:15 start time in Busch Stadium.
During the game, a trade was made.
One of the Braves most intriguing prospects was dealt during the chaos of last night’s contest. 31-year old lefty Andrew Albers was dealt to the Mariners for cash considerations. Albers has been one of the organization’s hottest prospects of late, posting an ERA of 2.61 and a 12-3 record for Gwinnett this season.
But the reality of the situation, Albers was never going to be a major league option for the Braves. With a motherload of talented young prospects itching to get their shot at the major leagues, there was no room for a 31-year old prospect who has already struggled in previous major league experience. The Braves were able to save money, which will play a much larger role once this team is finally contending again.
For more on the deal, click here.