After a humilating series loss to the Athletics, who are currently the worst team in baseball, the Braves needed to pull it together for the series finale in Oakland on Wednesday afternoon.
Jared Shuster was the starting pitcher for the Braves on Wednesday, coming into the game with a 1-2 record and a 5.33 ERA. Through the first four innings, the game was at a stalemate, with both the Braves and the Athletics getting only one hit each and no runs.
In the fifth inning, Ozzie Ablies broke the ice with a two-run homer to make it a 2-0 ball game, his 11th of the season. Albies' homer was followed by a single from Orlando Arcia and a ground-rule double from Ronald Acuña Jr. The Athletics would intentionally walk Matt Olson to make it a bases loaded situation. However, Austin Riley would get hit by a pitch for an RBI, bringing the Braves up 3-0.
Shuster went over five innings and over fifty pitches allowing just one hit before allowing a double from Oakland's Brent Rooker. Shuster's day would come to an end after Oakland's Ramon Lauereano put the A's on the board with a RBI's single, putting runners at the corner and allowing Rooker to score. Furthermore, Oakland's Carlos Perez would score again for the A's on a RBI ground out, making it a 3-2 ballgame. Shuster would finish the day with 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, and 1 K.
With the A's now trailing by one, Jesse Chavez took Shuster's place on the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning. Acuña helped prevent the A's from tying the game with a with a running catch in right-center field to help bring the game into the seventh inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, Arcia hit a single while Michael Harris II was walked following a nasty hit to the knee. With Acuña at bat, he singled to right field to bring in Arcia and to push the Braves' lead to 4-2. However, the Braves were unable to create further damage, with Olson striking out and Riley and Travis d'Arnaud being caught out. Despite being unable to increase the lead further, they at least were able to put some cushion between them and the A's going into the bottom of the seventh.
A.J. Minter took over in the bottom of the seventh inning, followed by Nick Anderson in the eighth. The Braves' bullpen was able to keep the A's at bay going into the ninth inning. However, the Braves' offense was unable to increase their lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, where Raisel Iglesias came onto the mound to close things out. Despite his struggles the previous night, Iglesias was able to close the game with a 4-2 Braves victory to avoid the sweep.
While losing the series to an 11-win Athletics would be a tough pill to swallow, that's just part of the unpredictable nature of baseball. Remember that the 111-win Dodgers from last season got swept by a PIrates team that went 62-100. Altough this A's team is definetly much worse, it's still not the end for the Braves. There is still a lot baseball to be played this season.
With the series over, the Braves pick it back up this weekend when they travel to play the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three game series. Charlie Morton is expected to start for the Braves in Game One, which is scheduled to begin this Friday night at 9:40 PM EST.