Braves go 0-for-12 with RISP in loss to Dodgers

ATLANTA — Splitting a four-game set against the Dodgers doesn’t seem too bad, unless you account for how the Braves could have won this series.

The Braves took their offensive frustrations to another level as they squandered a few prime scoring opportunities during the early stages of a 9-0 loss to the Dodgers on Monday night at Truist Park. They suffered their 11th shutout loss despite putting a runner in scoring position with one out or less during each of the first four innings.

“I guess it just makes it more frustrating against a team like that, this late in the season, when you’re trying to make a push for a playoff spot,” Braves center fielder Michael Harris II said. “I guess we now know we have to really lock in and come through in those situations.”

While Atlanta went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position, the Dodgers needed just two hits — a single and a double — to tally three runs during Max Fried’s six-inning effort. The game became a rout when Daysbel Hernández and Aaron Bummer combined to allow six runs on just two hits in the seventh.

This was the second time in modern history (since 1901) that the Braves allowed nine runs or more on four hits or fewer. They last did so during a June 4, 2021 loss to the Dodgers. That season ended in celebratory fashion.

How this season will conclude remains in doubt. With a 2-1, 10-inning win over the Nationals on Monday, the Mets regained a one-game lead over the Braves in the battle for the National League’s third and final Wild Card spot.

“We’ve got a handful of games left,” Fried said. “Every game matters. Every single guy knows what’s coming down and what kind of baseball we need to play. At the end of the day, you just have to leave everything out there.”

The Braves lost Sunday night’s game when Raisel Iglesias’ streak of 30 consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run ended during a seven-run ninth. But the game might have evolved differently had Atlanta not allowed Walker Buehler to complete six innings after forcing him to throw 70 pitches through the first three.

Iglesias’ struggles came after the Braves were unable to score against Michael Kopech after putting runners at second and third with none out in the eighth. It turned out this was just a preview of the series finale.

Harris drew a walk to begin the bottom of the first and reached third base when he stole second and drew an errant throw from catcher Will Smith. But he was left stranded, like Sean Murphy was after doubling to begin the second against Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was making just his second start since June.

Harris singled to begin the third and then was thrown out trying to score from first base on Jorge Soler’s double off the right-center-field wall. Ramon Laureano’s leadoff triple was then wasted in the fourth.

“We just have to do a better job when we get runners in scoring position to put the ball in the air or hit a ground ball to second with the infield back,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Just [better] situational hitting.”

Looking at the scores of the final two games, it might seem crazy to think the Braves could have swept this series. But Sunday’s game was winnable, and Monday’s could have certainly evolved differently had at least a couple of the early scoring opportunities not gone to waste.

Yamamoto killed threats in each of the first two innings and then benefited from the 93.6 mph throw Enrique Hernández made to the plate to retire Harris on Soler’s third-inning double. It stands as the Dodgers’ hardest-thrown assist since Statcast began tracking this data in 2015.

“Where he caught it, I didn’t think he’d be able to get anything on it or turn,” Snitker said. “I told [third-base coach Matt Tuiasosopo] that if I’m coaching third, I’m sending him, too.”

Harris hesitated as he neared second because he had seen the wind knock down Murphy’s 107.8 mph double the inning before. His choice to make sure Tommy Edman didn’t catch what became Soler’s 112-mph double prevented him from ensuring the Braves satisfied at least one of their early opportunities.

With the early chances squandered, the Braves’ high-leverage relievers remained in the bullpen for the final innings of a series that began auspiciously and ended in ugly fashion.

“We’ve still been playing good baseball,” Harris said. “We didn’t get to win every game. But we like our chances going into these final games.”