The Atlanta Braves missed out on completeing the sweep on Sunday, being blown out by the Rockies, 10-1. With the Rockies being one of the worst teams in baseball history (.197 winning percentage through 71 games), it's a loss that faces more scrutiny than a loss in a series finale typically would have.
It added insult to injury that starting pitcher Grant Holmes delivered a historic start for the Braves, striking out 15, the second most by a Braves pitcher in a nine-inning game and the third most overall in a game.
Things could have gone better, but sometimes that's just how frustrating baseball can be. Sometimes, you're gonna take tough losses against winnable teams.
"It's a big league team, big league player," Braves first baseman Matt Olson said after the game. "It's a tough game. Anything can happen on any given day."
Olson said he thinks the Braves offense has been trending in the right direction. The sweep would have been nice and any game with a lack of run support is tough, but there's still something positive to take away from winning another series.
"I'm sure we want to go out there and complete the sweep, and we feel like a team that can go out and do it. It sucks to waste that start from Holmes, because we couldn't get him any support, but regardless of who it is, we keep stacking two out of three, we'll be in a good spot."
The Braves third baseman, while streaky at times, as been one of the most reliable bats in the lineup over the previous month. Over his last 26 games, he's batting .300 with a .984 OPS, seven home runs and 22 RBIs. In the loss on Sunday, he went 1-for-4 and struck out twice. A not-so-ideal day at the plate came at a not-so-ideal time.
All the Braves can do is look forward and be ready for a tough division matchup with the Mets. There is an argument that there was some loss in momentum, but Olson sees the Mets series as a major opportunity, especially getting to finally play them head on.
"We got a chance to make up some ground. First time playing them all year. So, it'll be fine. It's always an exciting series. I know they're playing well. We get to have them here on home turf and hopefully have a good series for us."
The Braves have Monday off before starting that series on Tuesday. All first pitch times for the three-game series are set for 7:15 p.m.
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