With the team in dire straights and their playoff hopes dimming by the day, the Braves faced a tough matchup with Bryce Elder on the mound, facing Logan Webb.
It was a pitchers duel early, with Webb looking dominant but neither offense finding much success. The Braves did find some success in the second inning, as Ozzie and Nick Allen hit singles to put men on the corners with one out in the third, but tough strikeouts from Acuna and Baldwin stifled the threat, as Webb continued mowing down Atlanta hitters. Webb wracked up 9 strikeouts through 3 innings, while Elder managed 3 strikeouts through 3 innings, before allowing a leadoff homer to Wilmer Flores in the fourth, giving San Francisco a 1-0 lead. Brian Snitker got ejected in the bottom of the fourth after Olson and Ozuna were struck out on questionable strikes in the top of the frame, while Elder didn’t get a 1-2 strike call against Willy Adames. Fortunately, Michael Harris pulled it right back with a deep homer of his own in the fifth, rewarding Snitker for moving him up the lineup.
Bryce Elder held the tie in the bottom fifth and the top of the Braves’ order immediately presented a threat, with consecutive singles from Acuna, Baldwin, and Riley to load the bases with no outs. It very nearly turned into a major 2025 Braves moment, as Olson popped out to shallow left and Ozuna hit a soft chopper, but Ozuna beat out the double-play, allowing at least Acuna to score, taking the lead for the Braves and keeping the inning alive for Harris. Michael struck out, ending the inning with the minimal possible non-enraging outcome.
The Giants went to the bullpen in the seventh and were rewarded with a 1-2-3 inning. Webb was brilliant against Atlanta, but exited the game with the Giants losing, as the Braves got the better BABIP and sequencing. Walt Weiss, managing for the ejected Snitker continued in Snit’s tradition, rolling with Elder in the third time through the order in the sixth, seventh, and even eighth innings. To his credit, Elder was legitimately brilliant on the evening, even in those innings and efficient. He notched a career high 12 strikeouts and no walks, allowing only the one solo homer over 8.0 innings. That is easily a career best outing from Elder and although the 12 whiffs wasn’t quite as stunning as the 12 strikeouts, that gives some hope that Bryce can be better than replacement level for the rest of the season. I did not have Bryce Elder solidly outdueling Logan Webb, but that he did…and in a huge spot for the club.
Naturally, the Braves’ offense did the bare minimum to back up Bryce, scoring two runs and sending it to the ninth with a one run lead. Pierce Johnson (notably, not Iglesias) got the call to close out the game against the top of the Giants’ order. Johnson gave up a one out ground ball single and then paid for it as Matt Chapman launched a two-run walk-off homer on a middle-middle curveball.
That extends Atlanta’s losing streak to 6 games, and 9 one-run games. The Braves are very close to being buried as far as the playoffs are concerned, barring a truly wild run. They are 9 games below .500 for the first time since 2017 and seemingly finding excruciating ways to lose every night. Even as they are suffering from some brutal one-run game luck, it’s real bad right now for the Braves.
Join us again tomorrow, same time, same place for the final game in San Fran.
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