The Atlanta Braves hoped they'd be heading to Colorado with a sweep over the San Francisco Giants. However, that plan didn't necessarily work out how they wanted it to.
Jared Shuster took to the mound for the first time since June for the big league club and it wasn't his best showing. The Giants tagged Shuster for 4 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. They jumped on him for 2 runs through the first two innings and after allowing two baserunners in the fifth inning, Shuster's day was done.
Atlanta had just taken the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to a 2-run single by Travis d'Arnaud to tie things at 2 apiece and Nicky Lopez drove in d'Arnaud on a ground ball past a diving third baseman. It was a close play at the plate but Travis just got in ahead of the tag.
The Braves almost added a 4th run in the inning but after another close play at the plate, the Giants decided to review if Arcia was tagged out at home. After review, they determined he was out and overturned the original safe call and Atlanta held a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 5th.
As mentioned above, Shuster got his first batter out but allowed back-to-back hits after that to give San Fran runners at the corners. He then struck out Thairo Estrada for the second out but Snit decided it was time for a change and brought in Collin McHugh to face Wilmer Flores.
McHugh had a rough outing as he walked both Flores and J.D. Davis to allow the Giants to tie the game at 3-3. With the bases still loaded and two outs in the inning, McHugh then allowed a 3-run double to Giants catcher Patrick Bailey to give them a 6-3 advantage over the Braves.
Marcell Ozuna has five home runs and 10 RBIs in his last six games. This time, he brings the Braves within a run with this two-out, two-run homer.
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) August 28, 2023
(Also, if I were a pitcher and saw *this* pitch leave the yard, I would simply tip the cap) pic.twitter.com/VFOWsXmAnh
Not the best outing for McHugh but a 3-run deficit isn't too bad for an offense like this. With two outs in the top of the sixth, Matt Olson doubled and was driven in on a 2-run homer by Marcell Ozuna. Atlanta found themselves back within a run of the Giants but that's all the runs they'd get for the remainder of the day.
San Francisco tacked on 3 more runs in the bottom of the sixth. McHugh started the inning and allowed a walk and sac bunt. Atlanta then intentionally walked Joc Pederson to set up a double play chance but Austin Slater would drive in a run with a RBI single.
As you might've expected, reasoning for keeping McHugh in was with an eye toward resetting pen, resting some guys in preparation for a difficult week ahead with seven games in seven days at Colorado and L.A., where the #Braves have a big four-game series at Dodger Stadium.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 28, 2023
Thairo Estrada then reached first on a squeeze play and the Giants scored another run bringing their lead to 8-5. McHugh got the last two outs after that and sent us to the 7th. Michael Tonkin was up next and he pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless and hitless baseball with 3 strikeouts.
He was replaced after getting the first out of the 8th inning and brought on Brad Hand to face Joc Pederson. Pederson singled off of Hand but Brad was able to hunker down and get the next two outs to prevent any other runs.
The Braves offense went silent through the final 3 innings. Atlanta went down in order from the 7th to the 9th inning and the Giants held off being swept in the series finale.
Atlanta will head off to Colorado next for a 4-game series at Coors Field before ending the road trip against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Game one in Denver kicks off at 8:40 PM EST and will feature Bryce Elder facing off with Austin Gomber.