Atlanta Braves woes continue in Cincinnati

A sixth-inning barrage gives the series to Cincinnati, while Braves offensive woes in the Queen City continue

The Braves as an offensive unit have to break through at Great American Ball Park sometime.

Entering Wednesday’s series finale against the Reds, Atlanta was hitting a less-than-robust .227 as a team in Cincinnati over the last three seasons, averaging just over three runs a game and never posting an OPS above .700. Given the hitters haven that the GABP is, this seems impossible—parkfactors.com lists it as an extreme hitter’s park (+117). The ballpark itself should come alive for the Braves at some point, just as it has done for Adam Duvall.

Maybe next year.

Being on the wrong side of the scoreboard in Cincinnati isn’t anything to wring one’s hands over—the Reds produce runs in that ballpark (4.2 runs/game since 2012). The problem is that the Braves, in recent history, have not and do not and did not again on Wednesday. The instant Tucker Barnhart’s home run landed in the right field bleachers, the loss was all but assured—the final score (6-3) was a mere formality.

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Freddie Freeman opened the scoring with an opposite field shot in the first inning and the Braves tacked on another run in the fifth thanks to Chase d’Arnaud’s single that scored Erick Aybar.

Meanwhile, Lucas Harrell was making enterprising young blog-writer types like myself wonder why the White Sox, Astros and Tigers had given up on him in short order and what that 4.93 ERA in South Korea last year was all about. He’d scattered two hits through five innings and seemed to be rolling toward another strong start.

Everything broke bad for Harrell in the sixth. Jay Bruce opened the frame with a single, followed by a Eugenio Suarez single. Brandon Phillips flew out to right, moving Bruce to third and Suarez to second with one-time top Braves prospect Jose Peraza up.

A line-drive single by Peraza scored Bruce easily, but Ender Inciarte come up throwing from center and fired a bullet to the plate. Suarez was signaled safe by Angel Hernandez (of course Angel Hernandez would be involved), with AJ Pierzynski arguing vociferously against the call. The Braves challenged, the call was upheld and three pitches later, Barnhart parked it deep in the right field bleachers to essentially put the game out of reach.

Looking at the replay, I think Pierzynski got the tag on Suarez; you may feel differently. Only one of us can be right (I’m right, but you’re entitled to your stupid opinion). But if you want to make the argument, as MLB did, that there wasn’t clear evidence to overturn, I can see how you’d arrive at that conclusion (click the pic below to get to the video on mlb.com):

(Safe or out, Inciarte’s throw was a flipping laser. In related news, much like George Lopez, Shelby Miller’s star has fallen so far that he’s in Reno this week.)

Joey Votto would take Ian Krol deep in the next inning to make it a 6-2 Reds advantage. Adonis Garcia would go the other way with a solo shot in the top of the ninth, but that really only served to cap a solid series for #AdonisIsMyHomeboy – he finished 5-for-14 with a couple of homers in the Queen City.

Harrell’s bad inning handed him his second loss—he went six, allowing seven hits and four earned. Conversely, Anthony DeSclafani settled down to go eight innings, scattering eight hits and two earned to remain unbeaten at 5-0.

Thus went the series and the season series in the Reds favor—after a split in June at the Ted, losing two of three at GABP gave Cincinnati the season advantage for the second year in a row. That wouldn’t be as disheartening, but losing the season series to the team you’re fighting for (against?) the worst record in the league can’t feel good. The Braves have lost 10 of 16 in July and four of six since the All-Star break, for those scoring at home.

In an ironic twist, this was Turn Back the Clock Day, with the Braves wearing uniforms from the 1968-71 era. Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda and Felipe Alou would’ve come in handy.

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From one hitter’s park to the next, the Braves continue their road trip with an 8:40 p.m. (ET) visit to Colorado. Mike Foltynewicz is set to square off against Chad Bettis in the opener of a four-game series at Coors Field.

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