<img alt="Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zlvkfHHBv5Mzv-ctOlAprRMaU_Q=/170x0:3829x2439/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73475972/2162459377.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
Reynaldo Lopez had a rare bad outing and the Braves’ depleted lineup managed little in this one. The regression monster came for Reynaldo Lopez in all sorts of ways on Monday night as the Braves dropped a 4-1 decision to the Reds in the series opener. Lopez came into the game with a 1.88 ERA, 3.05 FIP, and 3.79 xFIP, and tallied a 6.00 ERA, 5.15 FIP, and 4.72 xFIP in the game, leading all three marks to creep upward, with his ERA and FIP both getting marginally closer to his xFIP as a result. Meanwhile, the Atlanta lineup didn’t do anything against Hunter Greene, whose 4.14 xFIP on the night basically mirrors his 4.17 seasonal mark, but whose ERA and FIP ended up falling because he allowed no runs and no homers amid a 7/3 K/BB ratio. So it goes.
There really wasn’t too much to describe play-by-play-wise for this game. The Reds got on the board in the first with an Elly de la Cruz triple to right, and a sac fly. A bit later, in the third, Will Benson, who is having a terrible season, obliterated a Lopez pitch into right for a massive solo homer. Then there was a de la Cruz infield single, and a weak bouncer down the line past Matt Olson at first, that allowed de la Cruz to score from first. In the fifth, the Reds got their fourth and final run when Austin Riley couldn’t snag a foul pop-up from Stuart Fairchild, whom Lopez then plunked (the first hit batter by Lopez this year). A steal, a single by Benson, and a sac fly plated Fairchild.
All in all, it was a pretty blah start from Lopez, though in his defense, he was rocking a 3/0 K/BB ratio before going through the lineup a fourth time. He wriggled his way out of some jams late, but it didn’t really matter, because the score was what it was, and the Braves weren’t doing anything on offense.
The Braves actually threatened against Greene fairly often, but never broke through. In the second, a walk and a hit by pitch seemed like a decent chance for the Braves to at least tie the game, but Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario didn’t do anything, and Sean Murphy (say the line, Bart!) hit a barreled out with a 91 percent hit probability to left to end the inning. The Braves also got leadoff men on in the third, fourth, and fifth against Greene, but never got another baserunner in any of those innings.
Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee finished up the pitching slate for Atlanta, with Bummer throwing two innings with three strikeouts, and Lee collecting two in his inning of work. The bullpen continues to be pretty cool, but in something reminiscent of last year’s NLDS, can’t really make an impact because they’re rarely called upon early, and games are largely decided by the time they enter.
The Braves didn’t do anything in the eighth after Greene departed, but did scratch across kind of a stupid run in the ninth against Alexis Diaz, who was struggling mightily in his outing. Marcell Ozuna had a leadoff single and Matt Olson only avoided grounding into a double play because Ozuna had advanced to second on defensive indifference; after a walk to Duvall, Rosario hit a sacrifice fly for the only Atlanta run. Diaz then walked Murphy to bring up the tying run, and threw a pretty crappy 92 mph fastball down the middle to Orlando Arcia... who hit a pathetic 80 mph fly ball to left to end the game.
The only other things of note in this game were:
Nacho Alvarez Jr. went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in his MLB debut. He got fooled on a slider and hit a weak comebacker in his first PA, got fooled on another slider and struck out looking in his second PA, pulled a slider hard in his third PA for a 50-50 groundout, and weakly tapped an off the plate cutter to first in his fourth PA. He fouled off every four-seamer he swung at, and his ability to do anything with fastballs is going to be something to watch.
Austin Riley left this game mid at-bat in the top of the ninth as presumably his wife went into labor about that time. I was watching on mute as usual, so there was this weird moment of, “They’re congratulating him because he doesn’t have to play in this miserable inputs-outputs dissociation wormhole anymore! He escaped!” before I realized that the reason for his departure was more mundane, and also probably a much happier occasion for him. On the flip side, while Riley gets to enjoy paternal and familial bliss, the Braves will run out a lineup that will now include an additional roster barnacle for the next few days.
Anyway, the Braves fall to 54-45, but the Cardinals also lost (to the upstart Pirates) and the Diamondbacks are losing big right now, so basically the Braves will continue to tread water and maybe occasionally gulp down some salty spray as the rest of the blah NL pseudo-contenders scramble over one another for the time being. I guess the Padres picked a half-game up on them by not playing today, and the Mets won and stuff.
<img alt="Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zlvkfHHBv5Mzv-ctOlAprRMaU_Q=/170x0:3829x2439/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73475972/2162459377.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
Reynaldo Lopez had a rare bad outing and the Braves’ depleted lineup managed little in this one. The regression monster came for Reynaldo Lopez in all sorts of ways on Monday night as the Braves dropped a 4-1 decision to the Reds in the series opener. Lopez came into the game with a 1.88 ERA, 3.05 FIP, and 3.79 xFIP, and tallied a 6.00 ERA, 5.15 FIP, and 4.72 xFIP in the game, leading all three marks to creep upward, with his ERA and FIP both getting marginally closer to his xFIP as a result. Meanwhile, the Atlanta lineup didn’t do anything against Hunter Greene, whose 4.14 xFIP on the night basically mirrors his 4.17 seasonal mark, but whose ERA and FIP ended up falling because he allowed no runs and no homers amid a 7/3 K/BB ratio. So it goes.
There really wasn’t too much to describe play-by-play-wise for this game. The Reds got on the board in the first with an Elly de la Cruz triple to right, and a sac fly. A bit later, in the third, Will Benson, who is having a terrible season, obliterated a Lopez pitch into right for a massive solo homer. Then there was a de la Cruz infield single, and a weak bouncer down the line past Matt Olson at first, that allowed de la Cruz to score from first. In the fifth, the Reds got their fourth and final run when Austin Riley couldn’t snag a foul pop-up from Stuart Fairchild, whom Lopez then plunked (the first hit batter by Lopez this year). A steal, a single by Benson, and a sac fly plated Fairchild.
All in all, it was a pretty blah start from Lopez, though in his defense, he was rocking a 3/0 K/BB ratio before going through the lineup a fourth time. He wriggled his way out of some jams late, but it didn’t really matter, because the score was what it was, and the Braves weren’t doing anything on offense.
The Braves actually threatened against Greene fairly often, but never broke through. In the second, a walk and a hit by pitch seemed like a decent chance for the Braves to at least tie the game, but Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario didn’t do anything, and Sean Murphy (say the line, Bart!) hit a barreled out with a 91 percent hit probability to left to end the inning. The Braves also got leadoff men on in the third, fourth, and fifth against Greene, but never got another baserunner in any of those innings.
Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee finished up the pitching slate for Atlanta, with Bummer throwing two innings with three strikeouts, and Lee collecting two in his inning of work. The bullpen continues to be pretty cool, but in something reminiscent of last year’s NLDS, can’t really make an impact because they’re rarely called upon early, and games are largely decided by the time they enter.
The Braves didn’t do anything in the eighth after Greene departed, but did scratch across kind of a stupid run in the ninth against Alexis Diaz, who was struggling mightily in his outing. Marcell Ozuna had a leadoff single and Matt Olson only avoided grounding into a double play because Ozuna had advanced to second on defensive indifference; after a walk to Duvall, Rosario hit a sacrifice fly for the only Atlanta run. Diaz then walked Murphy to bring up the tying run, and threw a pretty crappy 92 mph fastball down the middle to Orlando Arcia... who hit a pathetic 80 mph fly ball to left to end the game.
The only other things of note in this game were:
Nacho Alvarez Jr. went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in his MLB debut. He got fooled on a slider and hit a weak comebacker in his first PA, got fooled on another slider and struck out looking in his second PA, pulled a slider hard in his third PA for a 50-50 groundout, and weakly tapped an off the plate cutter to first in his fourth PA. He fouled off every four-seamer he swung at, and his ability to do anything with fastballs is going to be something to watch.
Austin Riley left this game mid at-bat in the top of the ninth as presumably his wife went into labor about that time. I was watching on mute as usual, so there was this weird moment of, “They’re congratulating him because he doesn’t have to play in this miserable inputs-outputs dissociation wormhole anymore! He escaped!” before I realized that the reason for his departure was more mundane, and also probably a much happier occasion for him. On the flip side, while Riley gets to enjoy paternal and familial bliss, the Braves will run out a lineup that will now include an additional roster barnacle for the next few days.
Anyway, the Braves fall to 54-45, but the Cardinals also lost (to the upstart Pirates) and the Diamondbacks are losing big right now, so basically the Braves will continue to tread water and maybe occasionally gulp down some salty spray as the rest of the blah NL pseudo-contenders scramble over one another for the time being. I guess the Padres picked a half-game up on them by not playing today, and the Mets won and stuff.
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