ATLANTA -- Riding a wave of confidence that increased with Sunday night’s ninth-inning comeback in St. Louis, the Braves returned home this week looking to extend the recent misery of the Nationals. Instead, they stumbled through a two-game series that concluded with a far from pretty 14-4 loss Wednesday night at SunTrust Park.
The celebratory atmosphere created by the pregame announcement the 2021 All-Star Game will be played in Atlanta quickly dulled as Kevin Gausman surrendered four runs during both of the first two innings and exited before former Braves teammate Anibal Sanchez had recorded his fourth out of the night.
“It was obviously not the best time to have one of the worst starts of my career,” Gausman said. “But the only positive was maybe I got the bad one out of the way. I feel like l’ve been throwing the ball pretty well. So I’ll try not to get too discouraged.”
Gausman gained a dubious distinction as he retired just three of the 13 batters faced. The veteran right-hander became the first starting pitcher in Braves’ history to allow at least eight hits and eight earned runs in one inning or less. The only other instance where he recorded as few as three outs as a starter occurred May 3, 2017, when he was ejected after hitting Boston’s Xander Bogaerts with a pitch in the second inning.
The Braves had won 12 of their past 16 games before being swept in this two-game series by the Nationals, who remain eight games below .500 despite winning five of their past six games. Atlanta’s starting rotation has fueled the club’s recent success. But the argument for the eventual need to add another proven starter was strengthened as Max Fried stumbled Tuesday and Gausman bumbled in the finale.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s game:
Bad luck leads to bad mojo
Gausman certainly had reason to be frustrated during the four-run first. Two of the five singles that he surrendered had an exit velocity below 75 mph and Kurt Suzuki’s two-out RBI single snuck past the right side of second base and eluded the shifted Ozzie Albies. But the Braves’ hurler didn’t help his cause by throwing Suzuki a low-and-away fastball in this situation.
“It sounds like the dumbest thing ever, but I thought he threw the ball outstanding in the first inning,” Braves catcher Tyler Flowers said. “It was just a series of unfortunate events.”
Though Gausman knew he was burdened by some bad luck, he allowed his frustration to get the best of him as he struggled to command his fastballs during Washington’s four-run second inning. The most costly mistake came when he attempted to go up and in against Anthony Rendon, who laced a down-and-away fastball off the right field wall for a two-run triple.
“The MO on me is out: You’re going to get a lot of fastballs and a good amount of splits,” Gausman said. “When I can throw them for strikes, it’s good. But today, I got in some hitters’ counts. That first inning was some bad luck, but I let it carry into the second inning.”
Gausman had allowed three earned runs or less and completed six innings in each of his three starts leading into this clunker. He and Julio Teheran serve as valuable middle-of-the-rotation assets. But as the Braves look toward the next few months, they must determine whether they need more than Mike Foltynewicz, Mike Soroka and Fried to serve as the rotation’s anchors.
Riley’s slam
Looking like the guy who produced a 2.90 ERA over 24 starts for the Braves last year, Sanchez held a perfect game bid until Ozzie Albies singled with one out in the sixth. The Nationals’ veteran hurler recorded seven strikeouts and surrendered just one hit over six scoreless innings. He had completed as many as five innings in just five of his previous nine starts this season.
The Braves’ offensive highlight was once again provided by Austin Riley, who drilled his first career grand slam in the seventh inning. But Riley’s seventh homer accounted for the only damage done to the much-maligned Nationals’ bullpen, which has produced a 8.59 ERA in May.
Riley’s seven home runs through 14 career games are the second most in Major League history, trailing only Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, who tallied eight homers through such a span.
Winkler’s latest clunker
Dan Winkler had produced 11 consecutive scoreless appearances before blowing a lead while allowing four runs in Saturday’s loss to the Cardinals. The right-handed reliever extended his struggles as he surrendered three extra-base hits, including Matt Adams’ two-run homer, while recording just two outs in Washington’s five-run fifth.
A.J. Minter has recorded 13 strikeouts over 6 1/3 scoreless innings since being demoted to Triple-A Gwinnett and Chad Sobotka has notched seven strikeouts over 4 1/3 scoreless innings for the Stripers. The Braves have some reinforcements, but Braves manager Brian Snitker seemed to indicate that Winkler may be given at least one more chance.