Atlanta Braves drop series to St. Louis Cardinals with game two loss

The Atlanta Braves continued their recent struggles today, dropping the second game in their away series with the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1. The loss largely comes thanks to another dormant offensive performance that featured just one extra base hit, six total hits and a .000 team batting average (0-4) with runners in scoring position.

The Braves struck out ten times and walked just three times en route to putting up a lone run in the second inning. Jason Heyward and Andrelton Simmons were the only hitters doing much of anything today. Heyward went 2-4 out of the leadoff spot and Simmons had a perfect 3-3 performance that included scoring the team’s only run and picking up the team’s only extra base hit (a double in the fifth).

Aside from these two, the rest of the lineup was essentially non-existent. Justin Upton and Chris Johnson each went 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts and B.J. Upton picked up the golden sombrero after his four strikeouts.

Aaron Harang picked up his fourth loss of the season after a really solid effort on the mound. He threw six innings and allowed just six hits while striking out seven batters and walking none.

Opposing starter Shelby Miller looked better than the numbers we showed you today. In his seven innings, he let up just a single run, five hits and two walks, all while striking out a batter per inning.

It’s getting a bit frustrating to watch the team struggle so much offensively. Hopefully the bats can wake up as the Braves try to avoid getting swept tomorrow at 2:15.