Braves' Bryce Elder Speaks Up on Post-Rain Delay Performance

It's been a tough go-around for Bryce Elder this month. Ever since he gave the Atlanta Braves eight innings of one-run ball in a tough loss, it's only spiraled from there. In Friday's loss to the Phillies, he allowed 10 runs, nine earned, in two-plus innings of work.

To be fair to Elder, he was dealt a poor hand by going out to pitch following a rain delay that lasted two hours and 19 minutes. The tarp went on the field minutes before he was scheduled to make his start. He didn't use it as an excuse. He felt he could have done better.

"Obviously, it's not the easiest, but I have no excuse. I got to get the job done. I at least got to sneak out five [innings] there," Elder said.

He added he felt he left the bullpen "out to dry" with his outing and even said he was "sorry to those guys."

Edler said everything felt good while warming up. Nothing felt particularly different about getting ready after the delay compared to before. He felt he just didn't make his pitches.

"I just got to make better pitches early in there and just gotta live with that one," he said.

Elder's troubled began in the first innings he allowed a run and needed 31 pitches to escape a jam. He allowed two home runs in the second inning and a third home run in the third inning.

Once he did get to the pitch after the delay, he was still battling through rainfall. Manager Brian Snitker noticed he was slipping, so they had to check the mound and apply more dirt to keep it stable. The grounds crew had to do that periodically across the entire infield.

First pitch was at 9:35 p.m. and rain finally stopped around 11 p.m.

Snitker gave Elder credit for wanting to try and get as many innings for his team that he could.

"Bryce is a pro," Snitker said. "He's gonna do the best he can every time he goes out there, and he's not going to say anything. He's going to keep fighting and grinding even if the situation's bad."

Elder has a 5.82 ERA over 13 starts, with a 15.19 ERA in his last three. In his previous seven starts, he had a 2.98 ERA.

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