The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Unraveling squanders team’s best offensive performance of season.
Early on, it appeared the Braves were headed for their first win of the season Tuesday. The game quickly morphed into a tight affair that ended with Juan Soto’s walkoff hit against Will Smith in the bottom of the ninth. The Braves lost 6-5 in Washington and start the season 0-4 for the first time since 2016.
The score was tied at 5 in the ninth. Enter Smith, who had a stellar spring and struck out every hitter he faced in his previous appearance. Yet the unraveling happened quickly. Victor Robles singled. Trea Turner was hit by a pitch. Soto knocked a 3-0 pitch to center that ended the game in the blink of an eye. It squandered the Braves’ best offensive performance of the season.
Ronald Acuna homered on Max Scherzer’s first pitch. Freddie Freeman homered later in the inning.
It was the first two home runs of 2021 for the Braves’ cornerstone players. Dansby Swanson homered to start the second inning. Acuna went deep again in the third, collecting his second of three RBIS on the day. The Braves scored four runs without any outs in the third inning, surpassing the three total runs they scored while getting swept in Philadelphia over the weekend.
It was the third time Scherzer has surrendered four homers in a game. He ultimately settled in, retiring 10 consecutive Braves before exiting, but the team couldn’t have asked for much more success against the threetime Cy Young winner.
Scherzer left with the score tied at 4. The Braves loaded the bases against Kyle Finnegan with Austin Riley’s and Cristian Pache’s singles (the latter was a bunt), along with Pablo Sandoval’s eight-pitch walk. Acuna hit a chopper that scored the go-ahead run. The Nationals would later tie the score in the eighth off A.J. Minter.
Braves lefty Drew Smyly was effective in his first outing. He allowed four runs, only two earned, and struck out eight against one walk. His curveball was sharp, generating 15 called strikes and whiffs on 39 pitches. He retired the final 10 Nationals he faced.
Smyly gave up a homer to Turner and saw another two runs score on Jonathan Lucroy’s double (Ozzie Albies’ previous error made the runs unearned), but he was mostly efficient. He covered six innings, and as the Braves learned last season, one can’t undervalue leaving less work for the bullpen.
The Braves’ bullpen, which was far from its best, limited damage twice in the later innings before the ninth. The Nationals loaded the bases against Tyler Matzek with two out in the seventh inning. The Braves pulled Matzek to have Josh Tomlin face Turner. After falling behind 2-0, Tomlin retired Turner on a shallow fly to left. Tomlin isn’t often used in high-leverage situations — he’s a long reliever usually covering innings in bulk — but he came through in a tight spot.
An inning later, Minter let the Nationals load the bases with one out. Andrew Stevenson slapped a ball that was deflected off third baseman Riley’s glove and scored the tying run. Minter retired the next two hitters to leave the bases loaded for the second consecutive frame. The Braves’ offense couldn’t follow with a run, leading to the Nationals’ ninth.
The Braves and Nationals conclude their series with a doubleheader today beginning at 12:05 p.m. Both games will be seven innings. The Braves will then have Thursday off before opening their first homestand Friday night against the Phillies.