Braves shut out again, this time by Padres

Five observations:

1. The Braves put the leadoff man on base in each of the first two innings against Dylan Cease. In the fourth, they had two men on base with one out. In the seventh, against the bullpen, the leadoff man reached base. In the eighth, they had a man on second base with one out. In the ninth, they put two men on base against the slugger.

None of these situations led to a race.

Cease shut down the Braves’ action, then his bullpen followed.

“They’re tough,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of formidable starting pitchers like Cease. “You hope you can keep the game close and get to the bullpen, basically. Maybe he’ll put one in and you’ll score a few runs.”

“You know what, we kept the game close. We didn’t do anything with the bullpen either. Every player we played today was really top-notch.”

The Braves have been shutout five times in 94 games after suffering just two shutout losses a year ago. In 2022, the Braves have been shutout five times. In 2021, when they won the World Series, they have been shutout six times.

Down four runs in the ninth inning, the Braves had runners on second and third base with two outs against closer Robert Suarez before Sean Murphy grounded out to end the game.

“We had some good at-bats there,” said Adam Duvall, who had one of two hits against Suarez. “We at least gave ourselves a chance. And yeah, against a guy like that who’s trying to finish the game, any time you can get runners on the track and give yourself a chance to get multiple runners on the board, that’s what you’ve got to try to do against a guy like that.”

2. In May, Cease, a Milton High alumnus, gave up five runs, including two home runs, in four innings in the first game of a doubleheader at Truist Park. The Braves caught Cease off guard that day.

SATURDAY?

“I didn’t know we were going to beat him today,” Snitker said. “It was different than what we saw in Atlanta. It was something else, quite honestly.”

The Braves managed just one hit against Cease in six innings. The right-hander struck out 11 Braves players.

“A lot of his pitches looked the same coming out of the hand,” Duvall said. “He was hitting 100 (miles per hour) at that point in the sixth inning, I think. He was at his best. I’ve faced him before, and I think that’s probably the best I’ve seen him. You just have to keep battling when a guy is at his best. We had a chance to put a twisted number up there at the end.”

When a pitcher like Cease is at his best in the ballpark, the offense is likely to have a tough day. So the hope is to be able to punish an error here or there and score runs in bunches with a home run or two.

“Speaking of which, I hit a good ball in my second at-bat and threw it,” Duvall said. “You have to take advantage of those balls he misses up the middle. But he didn’t do that too often today. He did some good things today.”

Credits: AP

Credits: AP

3. No one predicted Reynaldo López would enter the All-Star break leading the major leagues with a 1.88 ERA as an All-Star.

Not even Lopez.

“All I knew was I was going to come in and I was going to fight and compete and continue to re-adapt to being a starter again,” López said through his interpreter Franco García. “Luckily, (the Braves) had plans for me to be a starter and here we are.”

In his last start before the break, Lopez allowed a season-high 11 hits. He allowed three earned runs for just the second time in 17 starts.

He also went at least six innings for the tenth time, which helped keep Atlanta in the game.

In the fifth inning, Lopez made a costly error. With two outs, Tyler Wade, batting ninth for the Padres, hit a ball down the first-base line. Matt Olson went to his left and stopped the ball, then turned to throw to Lopez, who wasn’t there.

He didn’t cover first base.

So Olson ran to the bag and tried to dive for the out. Wade was safe. He stole second base and then scored on Luis Arraez’s double.

Lopez could have finished fifth if he had given up just one run. But the Padres added a second run.

“I saw the ball hit and I thought it was going to be a foul, so I stopped, but it’s a mistake that can’t happen,” Lopez said. “I have to cover first, no matter what, and then let the referee decide what he’s going to say. But it’s up to me to cover first, no matter what. For me, that’s unacceptable.”

“If you look at it that way, it cost me the game today, but if it’s a postseason game, then we lose this game and there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s all my fault and it’s something that can’t happen. I have to cover first in that situation.”

Lopez is the first Braves pitcher to post a 1.88 ERA or better over at least 95 2/3 innings before the break since Jair Jurrjens in 2011 (1.87). Before that, no Brave had done that since Greg Maddux in 1998 (1.54).

4. Recently, Snitker asked Lopez if he wanted to pitch in the All-Star Game. Lopez said yes.

As it turned out, everything went perfectly. Tuesday, when the game takes place, will be the day López will have his workout between starts. He will therefore be available to pitch during the game.

“I think for my family and me it will be a very beautiful moment,” he said.

5. The Braves were shut out after a great offensive night Friday. They lost two games in Arizona after winning the first two, including one in dramatic fashion. They won two of three against the Phillies, but lost two of three against the Giants before that.

They’ve had a few small winning streaks here and there, but haven’t been able to sustain their momentum over a long period of time.

“It seemed like we had some momentum going into the Arizona series, and then we didn’t finish that series the way we wanted to,” Duvall said. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know what it is, I can’t say for sure. It seems like we have games and games where we struggle to score runs. The good news is our pitching has really kept us in it and given us a chance to win a lot of them. We just have to keep fighting. It’s going to break down eventually — I don’t know when, but it’s going to.”

Statistics to know

14 – The Braves were eliminated 14 times in this loss. They have been eliminated at least 14 times in four games this season — all losses. In May, they were eliminated 18 times against the Padres, a season-high. In 2023, they have had five games in which they were eliminated 14 or more times.

Quotable

“Yeah, it’s just the way I handled my work and went about this season. There’s ups and downs, good times and bad times, so it’s important to take a second to appreciate and celebrate the good times and the highlights. I’m also really proud of the fact that I’m going to the All-Star Game, so I’m really happy with that and all the work that went into it.” – López on what he’s most proud of from his first half of the season

Following

On Sunday, the Braves will close out the first half with Chris Sale on the mound against right-hander Randy Vásquez and the Padres. First pitch will be at 4:10 p.m.