Losing skid continues as Atlanta Braves fall to Seattle Mariners
By Brad Rowland
The hits keep coming for the Atlanta Braves.
Alex Wood was in the midst of a potential gem on Tuesday evening (or early Wednesday morning on the East Coast) as the Braves and Seattle Mariners headed to the fourth inning at Safeco Field, but then, the wheels came off for the seventh consecutive game. The Braves committed two errors, one by Justin Upton and one by Tommy La Stella (which was the real killer), in a roller coaster inning, and when the dust settled, Seattle emerged with a four-run output that was more than enough to hand to star pitching Felix Hernandez. From there, “King Felix” did the rest.
The big right-hander blanked the Atlanta offense for much of the night, allowing only one earned run through eight dominant innings, and while the Braves managed to create a run against closer Fernando Rodney in the ninth, it was too little, too late. Offensively, it is certainly not a crime to be blanked by Mr. Hernandez, but unfortunately, the timing of this particular shortcoming isn’t ideal. Atlanta has now scored three runs or fewer in six straight games, and they have not cracked four runs throughout what has been a miserable, seven-game losing skid.
Quite honestly, Alex Wood deserved better on this night. While the young left-hander “allowed” four runs in the game, only one was earned, and he was electric at times despite battling some well-chronicled symptoms of the flu. He continues to be a ray of light for a team that is a mess right now, and as long as he can stay upright while adding additional miles to his arm, the organization has a real keeper.
On Wednesday, the Atlanta Braves will look to finally get back into the win column in Seattle, as they conclude the short, two-game set with a 3:40 pm ET first pitch. The staff’s ace, Julio Teheran, will take the ball against Seattle’s Chris Young, and the Braves will be looking to avoid a continued free fall in the standings, where they currently trail the Washington Nationals by three games in the NL East. Stay tuned.