NEW YORK -- Sometimes, the game of inches can be quite, quite cruel. And the Braves were acutely reminded of that in the 8-1 loss to the Mets in the series finale on Sunday at Citi Field, when a pair of odd, unfortunate defensive plays spelled trouble for Atlanta, causing the club to drop just its fourth series of the season (the fewest in the Majors).
In the first inning, A.J. Ewing doubled down the left-field line with runners on first and third with one out off of Bryce Elder. With one run already scored, Mike Yastrzemski collected the ball near the wall and fired it towards the cutoff man in shallow left field. However, the ball ricocheted off the pole holding up the netting in foul territory and squirted into shallow center field, allowing Jared Young to score from first base and Ewing to advance to third.
The tight angle exacerbated the lack of a shutdown inning after Dominic Smith’s sacrifice fly in the top of the frame. Ewing, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, would eventually score the final run in a four-run first inning off Elder.
“Look, he’s coming, turning around and throwing the ball as quick as he can,” manager Walt Weiss said. “One-in-a-million shot that it hits that pole. You get tucked in that corner there and it’s a tough angle coming out of there. You throw it straight, yeah, that pole is in the way. … Just a tough angle for Yaz right there.”
Then in the bottom of the fifth inning, after Elder allowed a solo homer to Ewing to lead off the frame, Marcus Semien turned around an 88.2 mph sinker to deep center field. Michael Harris II raced back and leaped to seemingly rob Semien of a home run, but the ball popped out of his glove and landed over the fence once the center fielder collided with the wall.
Harris, whose 6 OAA is tied for fifth among MLB center fielders, looked at his empty glove in shock and fell to the ground facing the wall -- in disbelief that he didn’t come down with the ball. There was a similar reaction from Elder on the bump, rooted in an almost innate trust in Harris to always make the play.
“Well that one, I was almost real sure [Harris was going to track down the ball],” Elder said, on if he felt that Harris was going to track down the homer off the bat. “I thought I saw it go in his glove, and I think I heard it did. But what he does is unbelievable. I’ve never seen somebody get as good a read as him. Balls that he’s jogging to, other guys have to sprint. The reads he gets off the bat are unbelievable.
“Obviously I don’t like to see the ball hit that hard over the top of my head, but I like him out there when it is. He always gives me a chance.”
The comedy of bad luck and small margins put Elder and the Braves behind the eight-ball, especially with the missed opportunity in the top of the first inning. The Braves had the bases loaded and no outs, but only came away with one run.
Elder, who entered tossing two straight quality starts to begin June, never really got into a groove: In his four-plus innings, he allowed 10 hits, six earned runs and two walks, while striking out just two batters. Landing just 47 of his 75 pitches for strikes, with velocity down on all of his pitches, the right-hander cited a “sluggish” feeling as part of the reason for his struggles against the Mets.
“I just think my stuff wasn’t as good, [I] wasn’t commanding the ball, didn’t have the control of the ball that I usually do -- even from a location standpoint,” Elder said. “So, I don’t know if that’s a prep thing that needs to be better, or a focus thing, but I’m gonna spend the next five days working on it to be ready to go again.”
For a couple of reasons, Monday’s day off and return to Truist Park can’t come soon enough for Atlanta: A chance to flush a rare 1-4 road trip, the potential return of reigning NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin and just getting a moment to rest after a chaotic, disjointed few days of travel.
“They’ll be fine. It felt like, and looked like, maybe Thursday night caught up to us,” Weiss said. “But no excuse there -- it’s just what it felt like. But yeah, off-day tomorrow, get a nice little reboot and we know we’ll be ready to play on Tuesday.”