Braves Bats, Elder Can't Get It Done, Drop Marlins Series

The Atlanta Braves drop Sunday's game to the Miami Marlins 5-3 to drop the weekend series. They see their three-series win streak snapped and they're now 2-3 against their NL East opponent this season. It felt like none of the momentum from the Mets series carried over.

Things looked good, at least to start, for the Braves. They took the lead twice in the first three innings of the game. Austin Riley singled in Ronald Acuña Jr. in the top of the first to make it 1-0, and Drake Baldwin also singled in Acuña to make it 2-1 after the Marlins tied it. The managed one more run in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice ground out from Alex Verdugo to score Baldwin.

However, Bryce Elder struggled in Sunday's start, allowing five runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out four across 5 1/3 innings. Elder has struggled with his old consistencies since returning to the rotation after AJ Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery. He's had a 5.31 ERA since June 1.

Ahead of his demotion to Triple-A to make room for Spencer Strider, he had a 3.10 ERA in his previous five starts. Things were looking on the upward swing for him, but he hasn't been able to maintain it. With the injury bug infecting the rotation right now, he'll likely get his chance to figure it out once again.

Braves bats still had their opportunities to back their starting pitcher but to no avail. They went 2-for-10 in scoring position and left six runners on base. A combination of factors failed to click. Just one more syncing up would have gotten them a win on Sunday and win in the series. Instead, they head to Flushing without wind in their sails.

That series starts on Tuesday. Spencer Schwellenbach will start things off for the Braves at Citi Field. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. EDT.

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