OAKLAND, Calif. — The Atlanta Braves are currently in first place in the National League East division with a record of 32-23, while the Oakland Athletics are the worst team in baseball at 12-45. The teams met up for a series in Oakland this week, and heading into the three-game set, the assumption by nearly everyone who pays attention to Major League Baseball was that the Braves would roll into Oakland, win the series, and head down to Arizona for a weekend series with the Diamondbacks on a high note.
Now the series' final game is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, and the Braves are hoping to avoid a sweep. What’s the lesson here? Never assume anything. Especially in Major League Baseball and especially this season when strange or unlikely things occur on nearly a daily basis.
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On the latest episode of the Locked On Braves podcast, host Jake Mastroianni discusses the nightmare the Braves are going through in Oakland.
Mastroianni described Tuesday night’s 2-1 loss as “one of the worst games I think I’ve witnessed so far this season,” but also said, “There were some good things about it, specifically the pitching and Bryce Elder’s performance.”
Elder lasted seven and one-third innings, only gave up one run on five hits, walked three, and struck out five. It was the first time he worked into the eighth inning this season. He also induced ten groundouts to two flyouts. This performance lowered Elder’s ERA to a league-leading 1.92.
Mastroianni said he was a little worried about pairing Elder with Monday night’s starter Michael Soroka because they’re similar pitchers and both induce a lot of groundballs, but he added, “It’s the Oakland Athletics lineup.”
As a team, the A’s batted .179/.324/.179 last night, but the Braves were worse, batting only .138/.167/.276. They went into Tuesday’s game with a league-high .942 OPS against lefties, but JP Sears kept them from doing much for six innings. Their lone run came on a Kevin Pillar solo shot off Sears in the top of the third inning.
Overall, the Braves only had four hits, and Pillar had two of them—he also hit a double in the fifth inning. The other two hits belonged to Matt Olson and Michael Harris.
The game was tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth when Raisel Iglesias walked the bases loaded, and the A’s won on a fielder’s choice. It was uncharacteristic for the Braves reliever, who only walked two batters in nine previous outings in 2023.
After the game, Austin Riley said about Elder via MLB.com, “He's been unbelievable for us. To only put up one for him, that doesn't sit very well. He's been great. All you can ask for.”
The Braves hadn’t lost a series to the A’s since 2005, which was only the second the teams had met since interleague play began, and now, they’ll have to try and avoid a sweep at the hands of a team who could go down as one of the worst teams of the modern baseball era.
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