Spencer Strider was a bit shakier than usual, but he still struck out eight batters. Unfortunately, the rest of the Atlanta Braves didn't exactly show out on Wednesday as they fell to the Astros by the score of 9-3.
Overall, Spencer Strider had himself a fine day on the field. For the positives, he struck out eight batters in 3.2 innings of work which you love to see. However, it wasn't the best we have seen him as his command wasn't the best. He also had some rough batted ball luck as some soft contact and flares found places where gloves were not. As a result, he did give up a couple of runs and more hits than we are used to out of him, but nothing that should be a cause for concern.
As for the Braves offense, it was essentially non-existent through the first five innings as they were held to just one hit (a single). However, they did get on the board in the sixth. Jordan Luplow led the inning off with a double and after advancing to third on a fly out, Ozzie Albies brought him home on a sac fly to make it a 2-1 game.
Things started to go a little sideways for the Braves after that with Kirby Yates on the mound. Yates got the first two Astros hitters to strike out without incident, but after that five straight Houston batters reached base including a couple of doubles and by the end of the inning, it was a 5-1 game.
The Braves would get a run back on a Kevin Pillar RBI groundout in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the eighth inning would see some suspect two-out defense get punished and the Astros tacked on three more runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. This is during the portion of the game where all those involved aren't in play for roster spots, so you should read much into what is happening other than enjoying the chaos of it all.
The Braves would get a run in the bottom of the eighth on a wild pitch with the bases loaded, but that was all the damage they were able to do with that opportunity. They went quietly after that.
The Braves next go up against the Rays tomorrow at 1:05 PM EST which should be a nice test against a bunch of young talent on that Rays squad.