Atlanta Braves continue their slump with 3-0 shutout loss
By John Le
The Atlanta Braves didn’t have more than one hit in a single inning as Zack Greinke and the Diamondbacks bullpen shut them down
The Atlanta Braves needed to head into the All-Star break strong and had a chance to do so as the Diamondbacks arrived in a partial slump of their own. However, the Braves lost game 1 of the series Friday night and were shutout on Saturday against Arizona ace Zack Greinke.
Greinke just rolled past the Braves offense with full speed in front of another sold out SunTrust Park crowd this afternoon. He went 7 2/3 innings and really only left the game because of the high pitch count.
Braves’ starter Sean Newcomb had another more-or-less strange start for the home team: this was another example of a Braves starters getting in first inning trouble. Newcomb walked three of the first four batters he saw before allowing a RBI single to Steven Souza Jr.. The first two innings (especially the first) took a lot out of Newcomb as he finished the first two with 51 pitches!
Sean Newcomb in trouble in the top of the first...has walked the bases loaded with one down for Souza. #Braves
— 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) July 14, 2018
He did go ‘Eco’ for a while as he slowed down his pitch count and held the DBacks at bay after the early struggles.
Eventually Newcomb gave up a hit to Chris Owings and a RBI double to Jeff Mathis after setting down 10 straight batters.
A solo homer from Ketel Marte was what knocked Newcomb out of the game as he reached 102 pitches.
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Greinke shut down any chances that they offense tried to generate, allowing only four hits, walking none and striking out seven over nearly 8 innings.
The only real chance that the Braves had at scoring didn’t come until the 8th when Dansby Swanson hit a 1-out single to center (Swanson was the only Brave with more than one hit in the contest).
Greinke then got Johan Camargo to fly out before being taken out of the game; he left having thrown 103 pitches. Charlie Culberson came in to pinch-hit for a REALLY slumping Ender Inciarte against Andrew Chafin and drew a walk.
It was the only time Atlanta had two base runners the whole game. They failed to capitalize though, as Ozzie Albies struck out to end the inning.
Brad Boxberger came in the 9th and struck out the side and close out another Braves loss. Nick Markakis did get a hit during the inning to preserve his hitting streak, now at 7 games. The other Braves hits came from Freddie Freeman and Tyler Flowers at one apiece.
There possibly isn’t another team that needs a break more than the Atlanta Braves do right now.
After hitting .275 with a .778 OPS and five multi-homer games in a 13-game stretch through July 3, the #Braves have hit .236 with a .653 OPS and 28 runs in their past nine games, and gone without a homer in seven of the past eight.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) July 15, 2018
They will now look to avoid a sweep on Sunday as Julio Teheran will clash against All-Star Patrick Corbin.
Next: The One Move That Could End It All
The series (and official first half) finale comes to you at 1:35 PM ET.