Braves’ bats struggle again in rubber-match loss vs. Nationals

Even heavy rain couldn’t wash away a poor series at the plate for the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves were shutout through six innings of Sunday’s rubber match against the Washington Nationals, facing a 1-0 deficit.

One 90-minute weather delay later, that deficit grew to 2-0. The Braves rallied mildly in the ninth, but left the bases loaded, taking a 2-1 loss to the Nationals which resulted in their first home series loss of the season and just their second overall.

For eight innings, the Braves’ offense seemed destined for a second straight shutout against a Washington pitching staff which entered the day 26th in the majors in ERA (4.87).

But when Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley led off the ninth with back-to-back singles, one could begin to dream of another dramatic win to extend the series winning streak at Truist Park.

An Eli White fielder’s choice after Michael Harris II flew out to shallow right prevented the shutout before a Ha-Seong Kim walk loaded the bases with one out.

But Friday’s hero, Chadwick Tromp, struck out and Orlando Ribalta got Ronald Acuña Jr. to ground one to the right side, covering the bag himself to end the game and secure the series.

Sunday’s offensive showing was mildly better than Saturday’s one-hit performance. The Braves managed six hits this time, but couldn’t string them together. Albies (3-for-4) accounted for half of Atlanta’s hits

Atlanta finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position (.111), stranding nine runners in its second straight narrow loss as the bats were never able to figure out Nationals left-hander Foster Griffin (6-2). He scattered three hits over six shutout frames, striking out six and walking one.

That overshadowed Atlanta’s unlucky losing pitcher Martín Pérez (2-3, 2.70 ERA), who allowed just one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking two.

Griffin had two separate streaks of seven straight batters retired. The first started with a strikeout of Austin Riley to strand two runners in the first inning. The second started with the escape from a fourth-inning jam.

The Braves seemed poised to jump ahead when they put runners on the corners with no out in the fourth after Matt Olson led off with a double down the left-field line and Ozzie Albies beat out a chopper in front of the pitcher for an infield single.

But a Riley strikeout and a White hard-hit double-play grounder — with a Harris hit-by-pitch in between — kept the Braves off the board.

The Nationals had the same opportunity in the fifth when Daylen Lile led off with a double and Jacob Young followed with a single. They did not come up empty, as Nasim Nuñez followed with a single to right to give Washington a 1-0 lead.

Pérez got a double play and a strikeout to largely limit the damage, but it was a day where there was minimal margin for error given the offensive lull.

When the rain delay finally ended Griffin’s outing, Washington brought Andrew Alvarez out of the bullpen. He allowed a leadoff single to Riley in the seventh and a one-out walk to Acuña in the eighth, but neither baserunner made it any further than first base.

Washington tacked on with pinch hitter Luis Garcia Jr.’s RBI single off Reynaldo Lopez which brought home James Wood after a one-out walk. That proved to be the winning run.

In all, the Braves managed just three runs in regulation across the three-game Nationals series. That’s not often going to get the job done, and in this case, ruined three strong starts from the Atlanta rotation.

One can only hope this being the 13th game in as many days for the Braves had an effect on the bats. An off day before kicking off a six-game road trip Tuesday at the Boston Red Sox may be just what the offense needs to wake up.

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