Boston Red Sox vs. Atlanta Braves Series Recap: Time For Atlanta to Hit the Panic Button

Coming into this series at home against the Boston Red Sox, there was reason for the Atlanta Braves to feel optimistic. It wasn’t all that long ago when the Braves went up to Fenway Park and took two out of three against the Red Sox in their ballpark. Boston was also in a bit of a funk after they’d lost five straight heading into this series. The Braves were certainly dealing with an opponent that was reeling going into the weekend.

However, the Braves were reeling themselves. They had just finished splitting a doubleheader that cost them both a series against the Philadelphia Phillies and a couple of players as well. Playing a doubleheader before getting on a flight and then playing a game the very next day is certainly a rigorous demand for any big-league ballplayer and that was what Atlanta had to deal with against their interleague rivals. So with both teams struggling coming in, this was going to be interesting to see which one of these two teams could overcome their recent struggles and prevail.

Boston Red Sox vs. Atlanta Braves Series Recap

Game 1: Red Sox 5, Braves 1

The Braves peaked in the first inning of this one and the run was scored bizarrely. Ronald Acuña Jr. seemed like he’d be out by a mile on his way home but the ball took a bad bounce that Carlos Narváez was unable to recover from. So with that, Atlanta jumped out quickly to a 1-0 lead.

Things would change in a hurry once the middle portion of the game rolled around. Abraham Toro and Trevor Story began to deal out their double dose of punishment to Atlanta, as Toro got on base before Story hit a go-ahead home run off of starting pitcher Grant Holmes.

Everything Boston added from that point on was a bonus, as Atlanta’s bats would once again disappear, unable to crack the code of Boston’s pitching staff. Meanwhile, Toro and Story continued to torment Atlanta both at the plate and in the field, with Rafael Devers jumping in and having some fun as well. It was just another one of those frustrating nights Braves fans are becoming all too familiar with.

Game 2: Braves 5, Red Sox 0

This was a lovely bounce-back for Atlanta following the frustrating first game of the series. Spencer Schwellenbach was spectacular in this one, as he went into the seventh inning with 11 strikeouts, no walks, and zero runs allowed. It was exactly the type of performance that was needed and it also helped that the bullpen entered the game and ensured that Boston would stay off the scoreboard for the entire contest.

Matt Olson would hit an RBI double in the first inning and that ended up being the run that put the Braves ahead for good in this one. Acuña Jr. had a great evening at the plate, as he reached base three times on two hits and a walk, with one of those being another home run. Austin Riley got in on the action with a solo shot of his own shortly before Acuña Jr’s two-run dinger brought us to the final score of 5-0.

Game 3: Red Sox 3, Braves 1

With the series on the line, the Red Sox went into this one with the upper hand as far as the pitching matchup was concerned. Garrett Crochet got the ball to start this one for Boston and the Braves simply could not figure him out. Marcell Ozuna did hit a solo homer off of Crochet but that was the only blemish on his line for the day, as he struck out 12 batters over seven innings with just the one run allowed.

Meanwhile, Bryce Elder was Atlanta’s starter and it was more of the same as far as Elder goes. He was able to eat his fair share of innings while he was out there but they weren’t the cleanest innings in the world. Elder would get his rough inning out of the way right out of the gate in this one, as Story hit a bases-clearing double into the gap in left-center, making it 3-0 Boston before the Braves would even come up to bat. Those three runs held up and Atlanta has now lost four series in a row.

Final Thoughts

This was a very unsatisfying series loss for the Braves. Friday’s game felt like it got away from Atlanta in a way that had to be incredibly frustrating to witness for their fanbase. As fun as Saturday’s win was, it was twice as disappointing to see the Braves go out and get stifled by Crochet in the series finale. This was just an incredibly frustrating series to watch the Braves get through, as Atlanta continues to be consistently inconsistent, especially on the offensive side.

The Braves have no choice but to figure out a way to bounce back and get their season back on track now that they’ve once again slipped a few games under .500. They’ll get an Arizona Diamondbacks team next that has been reeling just like the Braves and Red Sox were going into this series, so it’s not like they’re dealing with an impossible mission to get things going in the right direction again. Still, it seems like the Braves are just spinning their wheels at the moment, and if they do make any movement, it’s in the wrong direction lately. Atlanta needs the bounceback to occur immediately after this rough series against the Red Sox.