With Suarez (forearm) unavailable, Braves' bullpen runs out of gas in extras

SAN DIEGO -- With his team positioned to end a two-year winless drought at Petco Park, Braves manager Walt Weiss didn’t have the option to use All-Star reliever Robert Suarez.

“It’s some forearm soreness, “Weiss said. “I know the alarm bells go off when you hear forearm, but we don’t think it’s serious.”

Suarez’s soreness just adds to the long list of trouble the Braves have experienced while losing each of the last eight games they have played in San Diego going back to the 2024 NL Wild Card Series. Their inability to protect a one-run seventh-inning lead resulted in a 7-6, 10-inning loss to the Padres on Tuesday night at Petco Park.

“We had three [relievers] available: Dylan Lee, Carlos Carrasco and Raisel Iglesias,” Weiss said. ”So, we needed to get through seven [innings] with JR Ritchie and Carrasco to get through the game. We certainly didn’t need extra innings tonight.”

Which relievers were unavailable beyond Suarez?

• Didier Fuentes: Threw 28 pitches on Saturday and recorded a big out during Monday’s four-pitch outing. They will continue to be careful with the rookie.
• Dylan Dodd: Threw 39 pitches on Monday.
• James Karinchak: Threw 22 pitches on Monday. He warmed up in the eighth inning on Tuesday just in case he was needed. But Weiss said he wanted to stay away from using him.
• Reynaldo López: Threw 58 pitches on Sunday.

This has been a rough stretch for the Braves, who have dealt with multiple injuries while losing nine of their past 12 games. They ended a 32-inning scoreless drought in San Diego with a four-run second inning on Tuesday.

But just when it seemed like this stadium might no longer be Atlanta’s House of Horror, Ritchie surrendered five runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Then, instead of being able to hand a 6-5 lead to his high-leverage relievers in the seventh, Weiss stuck with Carrasco, who surrendered Fernando Tatis Jr.’s third homer of the season -- a game-tying solo shot.

With Suarez unavailable, the hope was that Carrasco could get through one more inning and allow Lee and Iglesias to pitch the final two. But by the time Lee entered in the seventh, the lead was gone.

So, Weiss spent most of his postgame media session talking about Suarez’s soreness and how it prevented him from using any of his high-leverage relievers in the seventh.

“[Suarez] said he wants to come in tomorrow and play catch and see how it feels,” Weiss said. “It’s just one of those things that creeps up over the course of the season from time to time with these pitchers and you’ve got to nip it in the bud.”