Braves Frustrating Weekend Could Have Easily Gone Differently

A lot has changed from one season to the next for the Atlanta Braves. Last year, the poor showing from the bats would have just been the norm. Now, it’s an off couple of games. 

That doesn’t mean a rough weekend at the plate doesn’t sting. Their pitching staff got the job done against a tough Nationals lineup. The problem was that the Braves’ offense suffered against a weak Nationals pitching staff. 

Take away the three runs they scored in extra innings on Friday, and they have just three runs over 27 innings. They mustered just on over those final 18 after the walk-off win. 

Zero runs were scored against the Nationals’ starting pitching. On Sunday, they went 1-for-9 in scoring position and left nine on base. 

“The tough thing is we pitched well enough to sweep the series,” manager Walt Weiss said. “We really did, but we had a hard time putting anything together.”

It’s a series that was bound to come about eventually. As strong as this offense has been, there were going to be some nights when the bats didn’t click when the pitching staff didn’t.

For the most part, this season, the team had responded almost immediately to losses. This time around, they couldn’t. It's just the third time they've lost consecutive games this season. Not bad for a team given that it's almost June. It just won't be sufficient to take solace in.

“I mean, look. We want to win every day. That’s what you want to do, but we all know that’s tough to do in this league. Yeah, like I said, we put some things together, we have a chance to sweep that series. That’s a big what-if right there.” 

The mindset remains in the right place. They aren't trying to sugarcoat anything. How they've performed all year isn't being leaned into. This is a team that knows what it's like to have a rough season. None of them want to go through it again.

Having that hunger for perfection helps maintain their winning ways.

"I think we lost enough last year that we kind of figured out that this year, we're going to have to handle things differently," Bryce Elder said Friday night," and I think we've done that very well."

That mindset is now being put to the test. We'll see how they regroup after the day off and the start of their next road trip gets underway. Another bout with the Red Sox gets underway on Tuesday. Spencer Strider will be on the mound for a 6:45 p.m. first pitch.

Sign up for our Free Atlanta Braves Newsletter and follow us on Facebook for the latest news