The Braves believe the offense will come, but it has yet to translate into a loss to the Pirates.

1. The Braves – one of the best offenses in baseball – don’t hit. And no one knows why. With a talented lineup like this, the best solution is often to keep working and wait for better days.

“It won’t be for lack of effort or work if it doesn’t happen,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “They are there every day, they are conscientious and consistent in their work. And it’s a difficult match. It doesn’t always turn out the way you want it to. You can’t explain now and you can’t explain when it’s rolling, and you throw yourself into these roles. It just happens and everything goes well, and it’s like it could be the other way around.

The Braves scored a run Saturday for the seventh time in 49 games. They had a point or less in just 12 of 162 games last season. And of those seven unique releases, six have occurred since the game began on April 29.

The Braves have been without Sean Murphy since the middle of their first game. They’ve been without Austin Riley for about two weeks. But they should have enough talent to produce.

But their stars struggled. Ronald Acuña Jr., the reigning National League MVP, has yet to start. Riley, when he was healthy, went through a rough patch. Matt Olson was not hot. Michael Harris II lost some points.

“I always said hitting was contagious in some way,” Olson said. “It was contagious when we were fighting for all the balls last year. We’ve had some good games here this year. Sometimes it can also be contagious in the other direction. It’s the same as a single person – sometimes it just takes a few balls that are thrown back to back, and a big inning comes out, and off we go.

On Saturday, Mitch Keller – who entered with a 9.97 ERA in five career starts against Atlanta – held the Braves to one run in 6 2/3 innings. The Braves tied it at the plate in the ninth at Acuña, but couldn’t get a single point out of it.

Marcell Ozuna, the Braves’ best hitter this season, believes it’s only a matter of time before the offense returns to form.

“Yeah, it’s going to come, for sure,” Ozuna said. “(Olson) is going to be good too. Oly, Harris, Acuna. Everyone will be on the same page. Right now, it’s like one on one page, one on the other page – like that, sort of top to bottom.

2. In the top of the fifth inning, Ozuna launched what appeared to be a game-tying two-run home run to left field. The way he looked at him and ran out of the box made it seem like he too thought he had it all figured out.

It landed in the glove of left fielder Bryan Reynolds against the wall. It became another blow to a team that was fed up with them.

“I thought it was gone,” Ozuna said. “As soon as I saw the ball stop and Reynolds was going backwards, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ No chance.'”

According to Statcast, that ball — which Ozuna hit at 102 mph — would have been a home run in 24 of 30 ballparks. The Braves, however, play in one of the other six, which is a sign of the times for them.

Entering Saturday, the Braves had hit 161 balls 105 mph or faster, most in the National League and second in baseball. But Atlanta’s 49 outs on such balls in play were also the most in the National League and second-most in baseball.

On Saturday, Atlanta hit five balls 100 mph or more. Three were eliminated. The Pirates made some great plays, but the Braves didn’t really have any luck.

Harris said the Braves weren’t too frustrated after the game.

“But during the game, yeah, when you need runs, and you’re doing just about everything you can at the plate to hit the ball hard, and you put it in the right spot and it’s right on somebody one and he makes good plays in the gap I guess in the moment, yeah, it’s a lot more frustrating when you need to run,” he said. “That’s why we play 162. .Every team is going to go through periods like that.”

Olson approached the subject of hard knocks like this:

“You’re obviously going to be a little sensitive to it when you lose and you don’t get anything, really. You watch them a little more than you would if other guys were stepping up and taking hits. Especially early on, I felt like the guys were making solid contact, just against the guys.

3. The good news for the Braves: they should get Riley and Murphy back in the coming days. They should be complete soon.

“I think it will be a big boost for all of us. It’s only going to stretch our lineup again — which is important, as we saw early on, when we saw the bottom half of the lineup do so much damage and help,” Snitker said. “Now I think we’re going to be back in the same position once we get these guys back.”

On Wednesday, hitters five through nine were: Orlando Arcia, Harris, Jarred Kelenic, Chadwick Tromp and Zack Short. This is no disrespect to Tromp or Short, who played their role well, but the Braves lineup no longer has the same length as before. Losing Murphy hurts. The strikeout of Riley, the No. 3 hitter, left a hole.

The Braves are eager to be whole.

“It’s going to be good,” Ozuna said. “This will be the team we’ve all been waiting for. We’re going to do some damage. As soon as we regain the confidence we had in the past, everything will be fine.

4. “It’s not really working for us right now,” Olson said. “I think (Chris) Sale just said – I don’t know if it’s true – that before today’s game we had the same record as last year, the same number of games played .I feel like we’re working a little bit and it’s not completely working, but there’s a lot of season left and we’ve been fortunate to win a lot of games.

What Sale said is correct: The Braves were 29-19 heading into their 49th game last season.

And on that same note, Harris brought up the day the Braves called him up – May 28, 2022. And after losing in Harris’ debut, the Braves were 22-25 and 8 1/2 games behind the Mets, first.

“It’s a long season,” Harris said. “I know we’re going to turn the tide at some point.”

5. Reynaldo López said he didn’t have his best day. He allowed three runs – two earned – in 4 2/3 innings. The Braves opted not to send him back after a short rain delay.

“I couldn’t reach the point today,” López said. “It’s over. Just turn the page.

He still has a 1.75 ERA. His attack couldn’t sustain him.

This has been a theme for the Braves thus far.

Stat to know

9, 8 – The Braves’ team batting average of .250 ranks ninth in the sport. Their .726 OPS is eighth.

Quotable

“I always do. The guys are so good. It’s one of those collective things where it’s not just a few guys, it’s almost everyone, a little bit. And then one guy goes for it. He’ll be there at some point We just have to keep fighting – Snitker activated if he senses the offense coming.

Following

On Sunday, Sale will try to help the Braves avoid getting swept. Left-hander Martín Pérez will start for Pittsburgh. First pitch is at 1:35 p.m.