Individual Braves Bats Surging But Lineup Still Missing Big Chances

The Atlanta Braves suffered another road loss, 6-3, this time at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays Friday night. They fall to 3-10 on the season and 0-8 when playing anywhere besides Atlanta. 

Two things can be true at the same time. Braves' hitters are starting to show some life, and that it’s still not enough. 

“There’s some positive there right now, but the negatives definitely outweigh it,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said. “We’ve just got to continue to fight it.”

Of their three wins, two had to be pulled out by some late-inning heroics. Being able to pull one out is a characteristic of a good team, but that can’t be the only one. That showed on Friday night when Ozuna and Albies hit solo shots in the eighth inning, and the team was still in a multi-run hole. 

Missing early opportunities is haunting them.

During a first inning rally, the Braves put a run on the board to take a 1-0 lead and still had runners at the corners with one out. Back-to-back strikeouts by Rays’ starter Taj Bradley killed the rally. 

“That first inning is when we need to strike,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s we need to go through, I know that.”

Other chances after that could have made up for it. Riley led off the third inning with a single, and Jarred Kelenic hit a one-out double in the fourth inning. Both were stranded. Kelenic became another wasted runner in scoring position. 

The Braves are batting .180 with a .562 OPS with runners in scoring position. When that stat changes to just men on base, it only gets slightly better: .211 average, .594 OPS. Only three players have hit multiple home runs 12 games in. 

A narrative heading into the season was when healthy players got back, they were gonna roll. Some of those healthy players are back - Riley and Sean Murphy being the examples right now. They’ve been hitting as hoped, but it still feels like Ozuna is the only other guy out there at times.

Having a healthy Acuña right now would obviously make a difference, too, but three or four guys out of nine batters doing their part isn’t going to show the desired results.  

The Braves look to even the series with the Rays on Saturday. AJ Smith-Shawver will take the mound, looking to give the offense a chance. First pitch is set for 4:10 p.m. 

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