<img alt="MLB: San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NtCP5jsaP4moG_y9WYolrWpF5dg=/0x0:5367x3578/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73441311/usa_today_23668280.0.jpg">
Murphy is starting to get hot | Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Riley and Murphy had back-to-back HRs, but that was about the only excitement from the Braves offense. The Atlanta Braves took on the San Francisco Giants in the first game of a three game series at home. After struggling to score runs in the past four games (ten total runs combined), they were looking for a spark to get the momentum going.
Hayden Birdsong was on the mound making his second career start. The Giant’s fourth ranked prospect took care of business against the Braves in the first inning with a one-two-three inning including strikeouts to both Jarred Kelenic and Marcell Ozuna.
The second inning was a different story. After Matt Olson struck out swinging, Austin Riley and Sean Murphy hit back-to-back HRs to make the score 2-0, in what was surely a site for sore eyeballs.
Austin to the SECOND DECK!@austinriley1308 | #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/H4SIhSAGBH— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 2, 2024
Sean Solo!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/R8Ep7JrtXY— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 2, 2024
Adam Duvall even got in on the fun following Murphy with a double. The inning ended when yet again the bottom part of the Braves’ order had nothing to offer when both Wall and Short hit flyouts.
Birdsong was clearly not shaken by his rough second inning. Either that, or the Braves’ momentum is just not meant to be, because it was yet another three-up, three-down inning featuring the same three who did it the first time in the game with Kelenic, Albies, and Ozuna. The fourth inning looked promising as Matt Olson finally got on base with a walk, but the momentum was halted yet again when the two heroes of the second inning could not deliver this time around. Riley struck out, followed by Murphy grounding into a double play.
The Braves got crafty in the fifth inning. The Braves are well known as being a team that rarely bunts. This inning saw Adam Duvall walk, followed by a bunt single by Forrest Wall, and then Zack Short hitting a sac bunt that moved Duvall to third. Unfortunately, the Braves could not capitalize on runners at the corners with one out. Kelenic struck out swinging on a seven pitch at-bat, followed by Albies flying out to end the inning.
The bottom of the sixth was yet again an inning where we only saw the minimum number of hitters. Randy Rodríguez came in to relieve Birdsong, but the Braves could not get to him. This time it was a groundout from Ozuna, with a smooth play by Giant’s SS Ahmed followed by a pop up from Olson and fly out from Riley. The seventh was more of the same. Another three-up, three down inning. Up to this point, the Braves only had six baserunners. Two of those were walks, and one a bunt single.
The eighth inning showed some life. Short struck out, but Kelenic hit a double. Albies then singled to score Kelenic to make the score 3-4. Albies then stole second, making him hold the career record for best stolen base success percentage among players with at least eighty attempts in franchise history. Unfortunately, Ozuna and Olson continued their recent struggles and were not able to score Albies.
Coming into the bottom of the ninth, down 3-5 the Braves were facing Camilo Doval who seemed to be an odd choice because he has a 4.32 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Yet again, the Braves could not capitalize, gong down one-two-three to end the game. All-in-all, the Braves had the minimum number of batters in six different innings. It is hard to win games that way.
Reynaldo López, who has the best ERA among pitchers with at least 70.0 innings pitched in MLB, looked to continue his dominance. The one player standing in his way, is former Braves hero Jorge Soler who has a .623 average and three HRs against him in nineteen at-bats.
In the first inning, López was the battle against Soler, striking him out for the first out of the game. Wade Jr. was walked, but then López recovered and struck out the remainder of the side. The second inning was a little shaky though. After Chapman lined out, Lopez walked Conforto. After another fly out, Yastrzemski singled to put two runners on. Fortunately, no damage was done as Ahmed hit into a flyout to end it.
In the third inning López was able to get the upper hand on Soler again, striking him out swinging on a seven pitch at-bat. López was able to get Wade Jr. out via a fly ball to make it two outs with zero on. However, he then walked Ramos and Bailey back-to-back. Disaster almost struck as Matt Chapman hit another line drive that looked to make it to the wall, but Kelenic made a fantastic grab to save the potential runs.
That's a hit... JK!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/HHp38Yu191— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 3, 2024
The fourth inning was not perfect, but López looked much better only seeing four hitters. The one baserunner was Yastrzemski having his second single of the night.
The fifth is when things started to go downhill. Soler finally go the better of López as he took him deep on a laser over the left field wall.
Turned on that 1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/nzRmRDVTwE— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 3, 2024
Wade Jr. made it back-to-back HRs as he hit a monster 442 foot HR to center to tie the game 2-2. After striking out Ramos, López was replaced by Dylan Lee who was able to end the inning without further damage.
López ended his night going 4.1 innings with four hits, four walks, six strikeouts, and two earned runs.
Lee was not able to keep up his solid night to that point in the sixth when he gave up a leadoff double to Conforto. Wisely hit a sac bunt to move Conforto to third. Pierce Johnson then came in to relieve Lee. On the next batter Matos hit a sharp groundball, and Riley was not able to handle it. This was scored an error, and Conforto scored to make the score 2-3, Giants. Johnson was fortunately able to finish off the inning to keep the score where it was.
Johnson stayed in the game for the seventh, but it was not pretty. He gave up a single and a walk, but was able to force a double play to end the inning. Bummer came in to pitch the eighth. He was able to get Chapman to lineout, but then he surrendered a double to Wisely followed by a single from Matos to put runners on the corners. He was then replaced by Jesse Chavez. Ahmed hit a sac fly to score the run, making it 2-4 Giants. Chavez ended the eighth with a Soler groundout.
Chavez stayed in the game in the ninth and ended up giving up a solo shot to Heliot Ramos to raise his season ERA to 1.51 (get Chavez to the All-Star game). The score was not 3-5, Giants.
The Braves offense was essentially anemic again for most of the game. Six out of the nine innings the Braves were not able to bring up more than the minimum number of hitters. López struggled by his standards, and the bullpen could not keep the game close enough. This was not a devastating loss, but it was a far cry from showing signs of a spark of momentum.
The Braves face the Giants again tomorrow night. Same time, same place.
<img alt="MLB: San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NtCP5jsaP4moG_y9WYolrWpF5dg=/0x0:5367x3578/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73441311/usa_today_23668280.0.jpg">
Murphy is starting to get hot | Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Riley and Murphy had back-to-back HRs, but that was about the only excitement from the Braves offense. The Atlanta Braves took on the San Francisco Giants in the first game of a three game series at home. After struggling to score runs in the past four games (ten total runs combined), they were looking for a spark to get the momentum going.
Hayden Birdsong was on the mound making his second career start. The Giant’s fourth ranked prospect took care of business against the Braves in the first inning with a one-two-three inning including strikeouts to both Jarred Kelenic and Marcell Ozuna.
The second inning was a different story. After Matt Olson struck out swinging, Austin Riley and Sean Murphy hit back-to-back HRs to make the score 2-0, in what was surely a site for sore eyeballs.
Austin to the SECOND DECK!@austinriley1308 | #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/H4SIhSAGBH— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 2, 2024
Sean Solo!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/R8Ep7JrtXY— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 2, 2024
Adam Duvall even got in on the fun following Murphy with a double. The inning ended when yet again the bottom part of the Braves’ order had nothing to offer when both Wall and Short hit flyouts.
Birdsong was clearly not shaken by his rough second inning. Either that, or the Braves’ momentum is just not meant to be, because it was yet another three-up, three-down inning featuring the same three who did it the first time in the game with Kelenic, Albies, and Ozuna. The fourth inning looked promising as Matt Olson finally got on base with a walk, but the momentum was halted yet again when the two heroes of the second inning could not deliver this time around. Riley struck out, followed by Murphy grounding into a double play.
The Braves got crafty in the fifth inning. The Braves are well known as being a team that rarely bunts. This inning saw Adam Duvall walk, followed by a bunt single by Forrest Wall, and then Zack Short hitting a sac bunt that moved Duvall to third. Unfortunately, the Braves could not capitalize on runners at the corners with one out. Kelenic struck out swinging on a seven pitch at-bat, followed by Albies flying out to end the inning.
The bottom of the sixth was yet again an inning where we only saw the minimum number of hitters. Randy Rodríguez came in to relieve Birdsong, but the Braves could not get to him. This time it was a groundout from Ozuna, with a smooth play by Giant’s SS Ahmed followed by a pop up from Olson and fly out from Riley. The seventh was more of the same. Another three-up, three down inning. Up to this point, the Braves only had six baserunners. Two of those were walks, and one a bunt single.
The eighth inning showed some life. Short struck out, but Kelenic hit a double. Albies then singled to score Kelenic to make the score 3-4. Albies then stole second, making him hold the career record for best stolen base success percentage among players with at least eighty attempts in franchise history. Unfortunately, Ozuna and Olson continued their recent struggles and were not able to score Albies.
Coming into the bottom of the ninth, down 3-5 the Braves were facing Camilo Doval who seemed to be an odd choice because he has a 4.32 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Yet again, the Braves could not capitalize, gong down one-two-three to end the game. All-in-all, the Braves had the minimum number of batters in six different innings. It is hard to win games that way.
Reynaldo López, who has the best ERA among pitchers with at least 70.0 innings pitched in MLB, looked to continue his dominance. The one player standing in his way, is former Braves hero Jorge Soler who has a .623 average and three HRs against him in nineteen at-bats.
In the first inning, López was the battle against Soler, striking him out for the first out of the game. Wade Jr. was walked, but then López recovered and struck out the remainder of the side. The second inning was a little shaky though. After Chapman lined out, Lopez walked Conforto. After another fly out, Yastrzemski singled to put two runners on. Fortunately, no damage was done as Ahmed hit into a flyout to end it.
In the third inning López was able to get the upper hand on Soler again, striking him out swinging on a seven pitch at-bat. López was able to get Wade Jr. out via a fly ball to make it two outs with zero on. However, he then walked Ramos and Bailey back-to-back. Disaster almost struck as Matt Chapman hit another line drive that looked to make it to the wall, but Kelenic made a fantastic grab to save the potential runs.
That's a hit... JK!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/HHp38Yu191— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 3, 2024
The fourth inning was not perfect, but López looked much better only seeing four hitters. The one baserunner was Yastrzemski having his second single of the night.
The fifth is when things started to go downhill. Soler finally go the better of López as he took him deep on a laser over the left field wall.
Turned on that 1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/nzRmRDVTwE— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 3, 2024
Wade Jr. made it back-to-back HRs as he hit a monster 442 foot HR to center to tie the game 2-2. After striking out Ramos, López was replaced by Dylan Lee who was able to end the inning without further damage.
López ended his night going 4.1 innings with four hits, four walks, six strikeouts, and two earned runs.
Lee was not able to keep up his solid night to that point in the sixth when he gave up a leadoff double to Conforto. Wisely hit a sac bunt to move Conforto to third. Pierce Johnson then came in to relieve Lee. On the next batter Matos hit a sharp groundball, and Riley was not able to handle it. This was scored an error, and Conforto scored to make the score 2-3, Giants. Johnson was fortunately able to finish off the inning to keep the score where it was.
Johnson stayed in the game for the seventh, but it was not pretty. He gave up a single and a walk, but was able to force a double play to end the inning. Bummer came in to pitch the eighth. He was able to get Chapman to lineout, but then he surrendered a double to Wisely followed by a single from Matos to put runners on the corners. He was then replaced by Jesse Chavez. Ahmed hit a sac fly to score the run, making it 2-4 Giants. Chavez ended the eighth with a Soler groundout.
Chavez stayed in the game in the ninth and ended up giving up a solo shot to Heliot Ramos to raise his season ERA to 1.51 (get Chavez to the All-Star game). The score was not 3-5, Giants.
The Braves offense was essentially anemic again for most of the game. Six out of the nine innings the Braves were not able to bring up more than the minimum number of hitters. López struggled by his standards, and the bullpen could not keep the game close enough. This was not a devastating loss, but it was a far cry from showing signs of a spark of momentum.
The Braves face the Giants again tomorrow night. Same time, same place.
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