Atlanta's season is starting to slip away after another 7-game losing streak
One seven-game losing streak was manageable for Atlanta — a possible fluke at the start of the season.
But now the Braves have dropped seven in a row again, and it's time to wonder if this will simply be a lost season for one of the game's star-studded teams.
Sunday's 4-3 defeat at San Francisco dropped Atlanta to 10 games under .500 and 9 1/2 games behind the National League's final playoff spot. The Braves haven't missed the postseason since 2017 — and it's too early to count them out this year — but they can't afford to have much more go wrong.
Atlanta started the season 0-7, then spent about six weeks clawing its way back to .500. All that work has already been undone after the Braves dropped another seven straight this past week. The last five of those defeats were by one run, including a ghastly collapse at home against Arizona on Thursday in which the Diamondbacks scored seven runs in the ninth to win 11-10.
After that, Atlanta called up reliever Craig Kimbrel from the minors — the franchise saves leader returned to the Braves for the first time since they traded him before the 2015 season. He pitched once, then was designated for assignment.
Atlanta overcame injuries to Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider to make the playoffs a year ago. Those two are back now, but while Acuña is hitting well, Strider has lost all five of his starts on the mound. The Braves are also one of only three teams in baseball with more blown saves (12) than saves (10).
There are some reasons for Atlanta to keep hope alive. A big problem so far has been the team's 9-19 record in one-run games, which suggests the Braves don't need to improve much to turn things around. They actually have a positive run differential on the season. But the NL East may already be out of reach, with Atlanta trailing the first-place New York Mets by 14 games.
Trivia time
Pete Alonso of the Mets needs 10 more homers to surpass Darryl Strawberry for the franchise's career lead. Only three active players currently hold the home run record for a major league franchise. Name the players, and the teams they hold the career lead in homers for.
Line of the week
Seattle's George Kirby struck out 14 and allowed just two hits in seven innings in a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. That snapped a five-game skid for the Mariners, who could use a more effective Kirby.
The right-hander is 1-3 with a 6.53 ERA in four starts after missing the start of the season because of shoulder issues. Perhaps this performance was a sign that he's righting the ship.
Comeback of the week
This is obviously the Diamondbacks, who according to Baseball Savant faced a win probability of 0.1% after their leadoff hitter in the ninth struck out. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a solo homer, Alek Thomas added a two-run shot and Katel Marte produced an RBI single before the second out of the inning. Then Ildemaro Vargas hit an RBI single, and Eugenio Suárez's two-run double put Arizona ahead.
Five other teams have come back to win after trailing by six this year, but none of those six-run deficits were later than the seventh inning.
Trivia answer
Mike Trout holds the Angels' record with 388 home runs. Giancarlo Stanton, now with the Yankees, is the Marlins' leader with 267. Manny Machado has the Padres' record of 177.
___
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San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
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Atlanta's season is starting to slip away after another 7-game losing streak
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