The Braves saw their winning streak come to an end on Monday night in Seattle, falling to the Mariners, 5-4, despite hitting four homers and leading 4-0 at one point.
Walt Weiss has been terrific this year, but his very questionable decision in the sixth inning turned the game upside down.
With the Braves up 4-0, JR Ritchie was very clearly out of gas — and had lacked command all night — and was inexplicably sent to the mound once again in the sixth. He issued back to back walks and was *still* not
taken out of the game, giving up a three-run homer moments later on a hanging slider to Luke Raley to cut the lead to 4-3.
Tyler Kinley entered in relief and surrendered a two-out, two-strike, two-run shot to JP Crawford to give Seattle a very sudden 5-4 lead.
The Braves hit Mariners starter Logan Gilbert hard all night, launching four solo homers and spraying line drives all over the field. Drake Baldwin led off the game with a homer. Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson then went back-to-back in the sixth, followed by Austin Riley two batters later with a rocket of his own. The Braves could have very easily scored more than four against Gilbert, but some poor luck on batted balls prevented a bigger night offensively.
Pitching in front of hundreds of friends and family, it was not a great night for Ritchie, who issued six walks and scattered four hits across 5+ innings. He only struck out two. We’ll see if he makes another start against the mighty Dodgers this weekend or if Atlanta turns to a different option, like Martin Perez or Didier Fuentes.
The series continues Tuesday night with Bryce Elder set to face very good righty George Kirby. First pitch at 9:40 p.m. ET.
