Atlanta pitching melts down in sixth inning, Arizona takes series

For the second night in a row, the Atlanta Braves bullpen cost the team a win blowing a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning after allowing six Arizona Diamondback runs. To be fair to the bullpen, the damage started with Aaron Harang, but the pen certainly did nothing to put out the fire.

Harang gave up three runs before getting a single out in the inning before Luis Avilan and eventually David Hale came in. When all was said and done, the D-Backs were holding a 6-2 lead and Avilan and Hale were tagged for three runs together.

The damage came mostly from the bats of Paul Goldschmidt and David Peralta, who each homered in the inning. Goldschmidt finished a perfect 2-2 with a pair of walks and Peralta went 2-4 with two RBIs and a run.

In the end, the struggles continued for the Braves, but if you had only watched the past two games you would think the pitching was consistenly letting down the offense. The lineup made a decent effort in the eighth and ninth innings, scoring three runs before coming up just shy and losing 6-5. The team actually outhit the Diamondbacks 9-8.

One of the nicest things to see tonight was Justin Upton homering against his former team and disappointing a crowd that greeted him with boos.  In addition to Upton’s nice game, Freddie Freeman and Gerald Laird both had two-hit games while Jason Heyward proved to be human after all, going hitless on the night.

But, the Braves are going to need to find another gear in the coming days because, the Washington Nationals are tied with them and the Miami Marlins are behind by .001 points as far as winning percentage goes. The offense has shown flashes and the pitching has been good for most of the season… now it’s time to put them together.