Atlanta Braves collapse in Memorial Day loss to Boston Red Sox

When Memorial Day arrives, baseball season is in full swing, and in 2014, it also brings the defending champion Boston Red Sox to town for a series at Turner Field. The holiday proceedings began with a great deal of optimism for the Atlanta Braves, but as a result of an ugly collapse in run prevention, the home team suffered an 8-6 defeat in the series opener.

The Red Sox got the scoring going on a sacrifice fly from Jackie Bradley Jr. in the third inning, but after that, the barrage began from Atlanta’s bats. After an uneven start to the game that included several runners left on base in the opening innings, Justin Upton ripped a 2-RBI double to claim the lead at 2-1, and that was followed by an RBI single from Gerald Laird that extended the margin to two runs to end the third inning.

In the subsequent frame, B.J. Upton continued his vastly improved hitting with an RBI double to make the lead 4-1, and his brother Justin added his second RBI double that brought B.J. to the plate. The mid-inning scoring was capped by an RBI single from Andrelton Simmons that made the score 6-1, and everything looked to be roses and sunshine on this Memorial Day. Unfortunately, the Red Sox would soon awaken.

Braves starter Ervin Santana was able to retire the first two batters in the top of the fifth inning, but when he walked Daniel Nava (who was pinch-hitting), it was an ominous sign for the remainder of the frame. Brock Holt stroked a double to right field to move Nava to third base, Santana issued another free pass to Xander Bogaerts, and after a visit to the mound, Red Sox star Dustin Pedroia broke through with a 2-RBI single that made the score 6-3 with David Ortiz coming to the plate. Almost on cue, the slugging left-hander blasted a 3-run home run to center field, and in what seemed like a blink of an eye, the Braves had blown a 5-run advantage.

With the score at 6-6, the Braves and Red Sox traded scoreless frames (with Alex Wood on the mound for Atlanta), and then, the rains came at Turner Field. The weather put Boston’s onslaught on hold for more than an hour, but when play resumed, Atlanta left-hander Ian Thomas did all he could to make sure that the Red Sox continued to score runs.

After retiring the lead-off man in the seventh inning, Thomas allowed an infield single Brock Holt by failing to cover first base (yikes), and that was followed by back-to-back walks issued to Pedroia and Bogaerts before David Ortiz gave the Red Sox the lead with a sacrifice fly. Before Thomas headed to the showers, he allowed a broken-bat single to catcher A.J. Pierzynski, and the Braves were in a two-run hole at 8-6 when the dust settled.

Atlanta had nine outs to play with despite their two-run deficit, but in the end, the offense was unable to make any sort of legitimate charge. Junichi Tazawa silenced the bats with a 1-2-3 frame in the seventh, Jason Heyward was tagged out after over-sliding on a double in the eighth, and the ever-dominant Koji Uehara navigated around a Chris Johnson single to close the game with a whimper in the ninth.

In total, run prevention was clearly the issue in this particular game, and that begins with Ervin Santana. Santana pitched effectively early in the game, but the wheels fell off near the end of his performance, and he allowed six earned runs (using eight base-runners) in just five innings. To be frank, there is probably no need for panic on Santana, simply because he was very good at times, but it is always a concern (obviously) when the final line includes more earned runs than innings.

Offensively, Justin Upton continued his incredible pace this season with a big day that included two doubles and three runs batted in, and he has been an absolute revelation throughout the year with a .299/.380/.598 slash line for the season. In addition, Jason Heyward reached base in four of his five plate appearances (OBP up to .335), including three walks, and Freddie Freeman also took three free passes while scoring two runs.

The Braves will have the opportunity to avenge this defeat on Tuesday, as they host Boston for the second of their four-game, two-city series. Aaron Harang will take the ball against left-hander Jon Lester for the Red Sox. Stay tuned for all your Braves coverage.