Braves finish off DBacks, complete sweep
ATLANTA — The Diamondbacks did not lose in excruciating fashion, but they lost a game nevertheless, and they departed Truist Park victims of their first sweep of the season.
Their 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday afternoon was not decided late in a literal sense. They trailed most of the game and it stayed that way until the final out. But this loss felt similar to the two that preceded it in that once again the Diamondbacks’ offense was nonexistent in the late innings.
Three Braves relievers combined to fire 3 2/3 scoreless innings on Sunday. Over the course of the three games, their bullpen threw 14 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run. The Diamondbacks still could have, and probably should have, won at least once, maybe twice, during the series. But they also could have made things a little easier on themselves had they done more against the opposing bullpen.
“It’s a challenge because they’re a good team and they’re very balanced in a lot of different areas,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We don’t have to look far to see what a good team looks like and plays like. I think we did that well for a lot of the innings, but not 27 of them. Those are the things we’ve got to do to win games.”
Braves sluggers Matt Olson, Michael Harris II and Austin Riley each went deep on Sunday, with Riley delivering a two-run shot in the eighth inning to pad what was a one-run lead.
Diamondbacks right-hander Ryne Nelson turned in a decent outing considering the opposition, giving up three runs in five innings. Most encouragingly