The Atlanta Braves lost 10-2 to the Seattle Mariners tonight.
Atlanta Braves rookie starter Hurston Waldrep made his sixth career start on Saturday night against the Seattle Mariners. He would leave the game without a victory, but his stellar performance allowed the game to remain close.
Waldrep was done for the night after throwing 91 pitches through five innings. During his time on the mound he continued his strong play, striking out five Mariners, walking five more, and only giving up the two earned runs on the first inning home run.
Following the game, Braves manager Brian Snitker was complimentary of Waldrep despite the outcome.
“Pretty impressive for a young guy not to cave in,” Snitker said about the first inning of the game. “I really like what I have seen of him. he’s really handled adversity.”
Waldrep is 4-0 with 1.33 ERA in six starts this season.
On Friday night, the sellout crowd at Truist Park got an opportunity to watch a pitching masterclass by Chris Sale. Sale finished the game having pitched 6.2 and only gave up four hits and an earned run, while striking out nine Mariners. He was lights out from start to finish.
On Saturday night, the Braves bullpen, however, did not pitch well tonight. Not even close.
The fireworks got started early on as Waldrep, one of the future stars for this franchise, gave up two early runs on a home run by Mariners centerfielder Julio Rodriguez. The fastball that went over the left field fence came on an 0-2 count. Waldrep, a native of Cairo, Georgia, would settle down through the next three innings, only giving up a double to Seattle right fielder Victor Robles in the fourth inning.
The first run of the game for Atlanta would come in the same inning on a solo home run by Matt Olson. The home run was the 22nd home run of the season for Olson and a team high. With Ozzie Albies on third base, Michael Harris II came to the plate with two outs and swung at the first pitch from Seattle’s starter, Bryce Miller. The results of that at-bat were similar to the four Harris II took on Friday night, it resulted in an out and no RBI.
Seattle left fielder Randy Arozarena started the fifth inning with a walk by Waldrep and proceeded to steal his second base of the night. Arozarena had two walks and the two steals during his first three at-bats. The Mariners failed to score between the second and fifth innings, and a large part of that was the defense behind Waldrep. Ha-Seong Kim, playing at shortstop, snagged a hard hot ball up the middle from Seattle first baseman Josh Naylor and threw him out to end the inning.
Ronald Acuna, Jr. came to the plate in the sixth inning with Baldwin and Kim on base, one out in the books, and the Braves down 2-1. Miller had already thrown 87 pitches for Seattle, and this was the first inning of the game in which he had given up more than one hit. Baldwin and Kim reached base on consecutive singles. Acuna, Jr. walked and Harris II hit a deep sac fly to center field which allowed Baldwin to score and tie the game at two.
With Arozarena back on second base for the third time in the game, Rodriguez hit his second home run of the game to put Seattle back in front 4-2. It was his third multi-home run game of the season. Eugenio Suarez followed Rodriguez with a solo home run to left. Both home runs came courtesy of Daysbel Hernandez pitches. That ended the night for Hernandez and brought Hayden Harris out of the Braves bullpen in relief with two outs and Atlanta behind 5-2. Harris gave up a single to J.P. Crawford that brought in another Seattle run before the inning was over.
Major League Baseball’s leader in home runs, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, managed to go 0-4 with a walk and Seattle still scored six runs through eight innings. Raleigh hit his 52nd home run of the year in the ninth inning to put Seattle ahead 10-2. Braves reliever John Brebbia, who came on in the eighth inning, gave up a three-run home run down the right field line to Josh Naylor along with the home run to Raleigh. The mariners hit five combined home runs on Saturday night.
Still Leading the Pack:
Braves rookie catcher Drake Baldwin is racing towards the National League Rookie of the Year award. Baldwin is hitting .283 with 64 RBI and 15 home runs. Though he has only won National League Rookie of the Month once, Baldwin has played a large role in the Braves’ offense this season. His defense behind the plate has also been a plus for a Braves team with very little to celebrate this season. On Saturday night against Seattle, he got a base hit in the sixth inning that started a rally.
