No time to cry
Braves’ struggles continue with NL East up for grabs
“You’re trying to win every game. Every game is big. They all mean a lot now.”
— BRIAN SNITKER
SAN FRANCISCO — After struggling to get above .500 for much of the first two months of the season, the Atlanta Braves rewarded manager Brian Snitker’s patience by turning into MLB’s hottest teams to cut down the New York Mets’ double-digit lead in the National League East standings.
With less than 20 games left, though, the Braves have hit a rough patch — and Snitker knows they need to steer out of it quickly if they want to secure a fifth straight division title.
“You’re trying to win every game,” said Snitker, whose team began the day a half-game behind the Mets. “Every game is big. They all mean a lot now.”
Carlos Rodón struck out eight batters in five dominant innings Wednesday afternoon before leaving with a blister as the San Francisco Giants won 4-1 and slowed down the Braves, who dropped two of three games at Oracle Park.
“It’s just something I’ve been dealing with all year,” Rodón said. “Whenever I get a lot of pressure on that slider, it just tends to crack and get that blood blister, so just something we’ve got to manage.”
Rodón (13-8) allowed an unearned run on two hits and a walk. He moved into second in the majors this season with 220 strikeouts, behind New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (228).
“We felt like where we were in the season, it was the right decision to get him out of there,” said manager Gabe Kapler, whose Giants are just 69-74 after winning 107 games last year to finish first in the NL West.
The Braves, the reigning World Series champs,
were alone atop the NL East standings for the first time this season after winning Friday night’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners. They’ve lost four of five games since then.
Austin Wynns drove in three runs and J.D. Davis added two hits and an RBI as San Francisco won for the fourth time in five games.
Giants relievers Tyler Rogers, Scott Alexander, John Brebbia and Camilo Doval combined for four scoreless innings. Doval struck out the side in the ninth inning for his 23rd save in 26 opportunities this year.
Robbie Grossman went 3-for-3 with an RBI for the Braves, who fell to 88-55 overall. They also dropped to 21-25 in day games this year, compared to a 67-30 record at night.
Charlie Morton (8-6) was charged with four runs in 5 1/3 innings for his first loss since July 27. The veteran right-hander allowed four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
Wynns gave the Giants the lead with an RBI single in the second. Grossman’s single with one out in the third drove in Vaughn Grissom, who drew a leadoff walk.
Davis put the Giants back in front with an RBI double in the fourth, and Wynns singled home two more in the sixth.
The Braves are off Thursday before finishing their schedule by facing only NL East opponents — including three games against the Mets at Truist Park on Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in the penultimate series of the regular season.
Atlanta opens a three-game set against the third-place Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, with ace left-hander Max Fried (136, 2.50 ERA) the scheduled starter for the Braves. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven straight starts.