The Braves appeared to be on their way to a victory in the home regular season finale, but a shaky start from Tyler Mahle and a lineup that went quiet after the early innings led to a 7-6 lost at Truist Park on Thursday night.
Mahle, making his final start before the postseason, had his worst outing since joining the Braves nearly two months ago. Mahle surrendered a leadoff homer and allowed a total of five runs over five innings, although he did settle in nicely during the fourth and fifth and looked
much more like himself. Most importantly, he got through the evening healthy and ready to rock in October.
It was encouraging to see the Braves bats finally show some life early after back-to-back lackluster (hungover?) showings. They scored four runs in the first inning after scoring three runs combined between the first two games of the series, and Drake Baldwin just missed a grand slam that would’ve made it eight.
Austin Riley launched a no-doubt 421 foot homer in the fourth, his second night in a row with a homer. Maybe a sign he is heating up before the playoffs? We’ll see. Mike Yastrzemski also continued his recent run of strong hitting with an RBI single in the fifth to give Atlanta a momentary 6-5 lead before Cincinnati promptly regained the lead at 7-6. But that was all the offense the Braves could muster.
AJ Smith-Shawver replaced Mahle in the sixth and promptly gave up a two-run homer that nearly landed atop the Chop House. He pitched well otherwise. Dylan Dodd was impressive during two perfect innings, registering three strikeouts in the eighth and ninth.
The Braves will now head to Miami to wrap up the regular season against the Marlins. Friday night’s first pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.
