The Braves went to PNC Park needing something to stop the bleeding, but the night unraveled fast and never really came back. Hurston Waldrep’s second start of the season turned into a rough one, and Ryan O’Hearn delivered the kind of damage that can bury a game before it even settles in.
Atlanta did strike first. Matt Olson doubled, Mauricio Dubón followed with a sharp single to center, and the Braves had a 1-0 lead.
That was about as good as it got early. Outside of a Baldwin walk, the offense went quiet, and the game flipped in a hurry.
Waldrep’s first inning spiraled immediately. He hit the leadoff batter, then saw Lowe - who had homered off him in their last meeting - reach on a single.
A walk to Reynolds loaded the bases with nobody out, and after Valdez struck out, O’Hearn unloaded. His grand slam put Pittsburgh ahead by three, and Gonzales added a single before Waldrep finally escaped the inning with the last two outs.
The second inning brought little relief. Riley and Jarvis struck out, Yastrzemski flied out, and Waldrep did settle in briefly with a pop-up and two groundouts in the bottom half.
But the third inning looked a lot like the first, right down to the same painful result. Reynolds walked again, Valdez singled, and O’Hearn launched another homer.
That made it 7-2 Pirates, and O’Hearn already had seven RBI through three innings. Waldrep did manage to finish the frame after Triolo singled and Davis walked, but only after another mound visit and another groundout.
Atlanta trimmed the margin in the third when Harris doubled and Albies brought him home with a single, cutting it to 4-2. But Skenes shut the door on the next three hitters, and the Braves never built on it.
Waldrep’s night ended in the fourth. He struck out Lowe, then walked the next two batters and was lifted for newly promoted Connor Thomas.
Waldrep’s final line was ugly: seven earned runs on six hits, including two homers, with five walks and two strikeouts over 3.1 innings. Thomas got the last two outs of the inning on groundouts.
The Braves kept running into dead ends. Jarvis and Harris opened the fifth with back-to-back singles, but Albies popped out and Olson grounded into a double play.
Thomas stayed on and worked a five-pitch inning. Dubón doubled in the sixth, but that was the only bright spot.
Then O’Hearn struck again, this time with a three-run homer - his tenth RBI of the game, all of them coming on home runs.
By the seventh, Skenes was out, but Atlanta’s lineup still couldn’t find anything. The Braves were retired in order, and the substitutions started to come in, a clear sign of where this one was headed. Thomas gave up another run in the bottom half after two singles and a walk, though he did add two strikeouts.
The eighth brought more of the same. Kyle Farmer grounded out, Matt Olson struck out, and Joey Bart grounded out.
Then Jorge Mateo, a position player on the mound, entered for Pittsburgh. He walked the first batter he faced, O’Hearn finally failed to leave the yard but singled, Gonzales singled to make it 12-2, and Callihan singled to load the bases.
Mateo then got Davis to ground into a double play.
Atlanta scratched out two more runs in the ninth. José Azócar singled, Dom Smith reached on a fielder’s choice, and Austin Riley picked up his second hit with a double.
Yastrzemski followed with a two-run single to make it 12-4. Jarvis grounded out and Harris popped out to end it.
There was no hiding how this one looked. The Braves were beaten soundly and looked drained by the end of it. They’ll try to stop the skid tomorrow.
In Other News...
Braves Quietly Got Back A Bullpen Arm They May Desperately Need
For most of the season, Atlantas bullpen has looked like one of the clubs quiet advantages, but the last stretch has brought a little more unease. Raisel Iglesias has blown a save, Dylan Lee has had shaky outings and Didier Fuentes is nearing the break, which has made the relief picture feel less settled than it did a few weeks ago.
Into that mix comes Danny Young, the left-hander the Braves have quietly gotten back after his injury layoff. His early work this season has been encouraging enough to give Atlanta another option for mid-to-high-leverage spots against left-handed hitters, and perhaps a way to ease the load on some of the other arms that have been asked to carry more lately. The bigger question is how quickly the Braves lean into that role, and whether Young can turn a useful return into something more than just a temporary fix. [Read more 🡒]
Walt Weiss Decisions Just Cost The Braves A Game They Had Won
The Braves had enough offense to put themselves in position to win, but the game slipped into the kind of extra-inning mess that usually leaves a manager under the microscope. Atlanta scored six runs and still could not finish off the Mets, with the lineups missed chances and a thin bench leaving the club in a difficult spot once the game stretched beyond regulation.
Walt Weiss choices only made the margin for error smaller. The Braves were already navigating a less-than-ideal setup in extras, and the way the bullpen and lineup were handled became a major part of why a game that looked won turned into a loss, even before the final inning had fully played out. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Cant Afford Another Quiet Deadline From Alex Anthopoulos
With the trade deadline approaching, the Braves look like a club that cannot simply sit back and hope the rotation and outfield sort themselves out. ESPNs latest best-fit rundown had Atlanta attached to 17 of the top 25 deadline candidates, which is a pretty clear sign that the market sees a team with real needs and a front office that should be active. Starting pitching remains the obvious priority, and the list of names floating around ranges from Tarik Skubal and Joe Ryan to Sonny Gray, Reid Detmers, Casey Mize, Jose Soriano and Freddy Peralta.
The outfield search is a little murkier, with Taylor Ward looking like the most realistic target if Atlanta wants to add a bat without emptying the system. Shortstop is another area worth watching, but the price tag on the top names would be steep enough to make any deal complicated fast. For Alex Anthopoulos, the pressure is less about making a splash than avoiding another deadline that leaves the roster looking almost exactly the same when the dust settles. [Read more 🡒]