Today's Three Things: Braves Blown Out by Mariners to Drop Series

The Atlanta Braves allowed ten Mariners home runs in the last ten innings of the series

The Atlanta Braves were blown out for a second straight game by the Seattle Mariners, dropping Sunday’s series finale 18-2 in Truist Park.

Here’s Today’s Three Things from the contest.

The Turning Point

The top of the 3rd.

Atlanta started the inning down 1-0, after Seattle had a mini two-out rally in the 2nd, but they’d end this half-inning down by nine.

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Braves-killer Julio Rodríguez, who already had multiple homers in this series. He didn’t get a homer, but he did lace a bases-clearing double through third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. and down the left field line. After back-to-back homers from Jorge Polanco and Josh Naylor, fellow lefty Dylan Dodd entered to replace Wentz but allowed a two-run single to Randy Arozarena before finally getting out of the inning.

Just like last night, Atlanta’s offense wasn’t able to do much more after falling into a giant deficit, putting up only one run the rest of the contest in an easy Mariners win.

Today’s Player of the Game

Jurickson Profar.

The leftfielder picked up two hits in the contest, including a solo homer to the Chop House that represented Atlanta’s only runs on the day. The power production is actually better than last year, with today’s 13th homer in his 61st game representing a 162-game pace better than last year’s 24 homers in 158 games. Profar’s .488 slug would be the highest of his career, beating last year’s .459 mark by almost 30 points.

Between the power production, his solid on-base performance from the leadoff spot, and his friendship with newly-acquired shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, Profar’s addition could end up being more impactful than we realized for next season.

What You’ll Be Talking About

With all due acknowledgment of the poor outing from Joey Wentz (8ER in 2.1 IP), this one’s Atlanta’s offensive futility for me.

The Braves only had three at-bats with a runner in scoring position in this one, converting none of them and finishing with just six hits and two walks across their nine innings. As a matter of fact, despite an early single from Ozzie Albies, Mariners starter Luis Castillo faced only one over the minimum through five, thanks to Ozzie being picked off and then later hitting into a double play.

We’ve talked on the Postcast and elsewhere about how this non-homer-focused offense has been better able to score more reliably, since they’re not stuck waiting for the big blast, but that doesn’t always hold true. Against quality starters with decent whiff rates, and I’d put a healthy Luis Castillo in that group, the Braves offense still hasn’t been able to find the consistency to stay competitive when faced with a good arm on the opposite mound.

Looking for more discussion about this game?

Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the loss.

What’s Next for the Braves?

The Braves are welcoming the Cubs into Truist Park for a rematch of the Wrigley Field series last week. Both teams have announced their rotations for the series:

Monday: Bryce Elder (6-5, 5.54) versus Shota Imanaga (9-6, 3.15)
Tuesday: Spencer Strider (5-12, 4.97) versus Cade Horton (9-4, 2.78)
Wednesday: Chris Sale (5-4, 2.38) vs TBD