LOS ANGELES -- The oft-used baseball adage is that good pitching beats good hitting. That was certainly the case for the Braves over the past week as they struggled to score runs against two of the top pitching staffs in baseball.

The Braves dropped the series finale to the Dodgers, 5-1, on Sunday at Dodger Stadium, suffering their first sweep since Sept. 15-17 last season against the Marlins. The Braves ended their six-game road trip against the Mariners and Dodgers with a 1-5 record.

Prior to heading on this road trip, the Braves had scored 149 runs, the third-most in the Majors behind only the D-backs and Orioles. During their trip to Seattle and Los Angeles, the Braves scored just 14 runs across six games. Compare that to the Braves’ record-breaking offensive performance in 2023, when the fewest runs that Atlanta’s offense scored during any six-game stretch was 19.

“We’re struggling offensively. There’s no doubt about that,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said following the loss. “We’re not hitting on all cylinders. It happens. Guys are working hard and it’s just not translating on the field right now.”

It’d be remiss to not give credit to the Dodgers and Mariners pitching staffs. Entering Sunday’s games, the Dodgers (3.14 ERA) and Mariners (2.95 ERA) pitching staffs ranked as top-five run preventers in baseball. Braves hitters had matchups against some of the best starters in baseball this week, including Tyler Glasnow, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller.

Even James Paxton -- who tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball on Sunday for the Dodgers -- has proven to be a quality starter this season.

But there have still been some worrisome signs for an offense that was consistently dominant all of last season -- most notably at the top of the lineup. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley have begun to show signs of life, but they’re still not quite at their 2023 levels.

Acuña reeled off three straight multi-hit games before Sunday but went hitless with a walk in the series finale. His season OPS sits at .738, well below the 1.012 mark he had in his MVP-winning season in 2023. Riley, too, had put together some quality games to begin the month but he went hitless with a walk on Sunday. Like Acuña, Riley’s 2024 OPS (.707) is significantly lower than 2023 (.861).

Matt Olson has struggled as well, with a .676 OPS that is more than 300 points lower than last year’s mark (.993). Olson's underlying metrics suggest that better things are coming, but it’s still been a rough go -- at least on a surface level -- for the lefty slugger who hit 54 home runs last season.

“We didn’t swing it the best this whole road trip. We faced some good arms in Seattle and here,” Olson said about the offensive struggles. “It’s going to happen sometimes. We just have to get back to work.”

One bright spot on offense Sunday was Marcell Ozuna hitting his 10th home run of the season, which is tied with Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Gunnar Henderson for the most in the Majors. He has been one of baseball’s top hitters so far in 2024 -- and for most of the last calendar year, after a tough start to his 2023 campaign.

Max Fried also pitched pretty well on Sunday, allowing four runs in seven innings on a pair of two-run home runs from Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández. The left-hander struck out seven and only allowed seven baserunners. Fried didn’t necessarily agree that he put his team in the best position to win, though.

“Any time you put your team in a hole in the first inning -- especially against a club like this -- it’s a tough one,” Fried said about his performance. “It’s frustrating. We wanted to come out and win this one to avoid the sweep. We’re ready to get back home and get this thing going.”

Fried’s day didn’t start off well, as he walked Mookie Betts and promptly allowed a home run to Ohtani -- something the lefty slugger has done plenty of this year. Ohtani would record two more singles against Fried and crush a 464-foot home run against A.J. Minter in the eighth inning.

The Braves have an off-day on Monday before opening a two-game set against the Red Sox in Atlanta. Much like the Dodgers and Mariners pitching staffs, Boston’s pitchers will present a problem for the Braves. Red Sox pitchers entered Sunday with the lowest ERA (2.62) in the Majors and have had an especially strong performance from their starting pitchers (MLB-leading 2.11 ERA).