Despite strong pitching efforts from prominent young arms for Atlanta, the Braves offense falls stagnant in a 2-1 loss to close out the 4-game series against the Padres.
With the Atlanta Braves sitting at .500 before the game Sunday night, they were looking to extend the winning streak and win the series against San Diego. Unfortunately, the Braves continued with their inconsistent play that has held them back during the start of the 2022 season.
On the mound tonight was Bryce Elder who made his major league debut last Tuesday against the Nationals. Although Elder’s start wasn’t quite as strong as his previous start against Washington, he still provided a formidable few innings and showed why he was one of the Brave’s top pitching prospects.
Elder started off the game with a pair of walks in the first inning leading to bases loaded. Elde displayed his impressive composure, getting Eric Hosmer and Jurickson Profar to both pop up to Dansby Swanson getting out of an early jam.
Elder found himself in another based loaded situation in the second inning after giving up two singles and a walk. Unlike the first inning where Elder was able to escape with no runs, he hit a batter and gave up a fielder’s choice which both scored runs. Elder got Manny Machado to fly out to end the inning but not before the Padres tacked on two runs.
Elder threw 2.1 more scoreless innings after the 2nd inning before getting pulled in the 5th after giving up a 1 out single to Eric Hosmer. Bryce Elder was relieved by fellow rookie Spencer Strider, who threw one pitch in the 5th getting a double play to end the inning.
The Braves offense was only able to scrape together 2 hits through the first half of the game, both coming from the Atlanta Braves’ new first baseman Matt Olson. Olson, who has been red hot since the start of the season, tacked on a single and a double both to left field.
Braves found a bit of a spark offensively in the 7th inning, starting with a homerun to the left field bleachers from Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna. Adam Duvall added on a double with two outs, though to no avail as Eddie Rosario pieced a line out to center fielder Trent Grisham to end the 7th.
The Braves offense found little success the rest of the game, with none of the final 6 Braves hitters reaching base safely.
Strider threw 3.2 hitless innings in another stellar relief appearance. The young flamethrower has continued his impressive rookie campaign with another scoreless outing.
Braves fall back under .500 and remain 2nd in the NL East with 3 series now under the team’s belt.
Atlanta will take a short trip from San Diego to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers in what should be an exciting rematch of the thrilling 2021 NLCS. Tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 10:10 EST with Huascar Ynoa slated to dual against Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw.