LOS ANGELES -- Austin Riley said he was embarrassed by his early-season production and manager Brian Snitker said he wouldn¡¯t wish this past week on his worst enemy. They were just a couple of the Braves expressing frustration at the end of a nightmarish road trip that ended in fitting fashion.
An early uprising from a slumbering offense against two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell proved to be just part of a painful tease. Just when it looked like the Braves would claim their first win ahead of a cross-country flight, they were doomed by Shohei Ohtani on his bobblehead night.
Ohtani¡¯s walk-off homer against Raisel Iglesias on Wednesday gave the Dodgers a 6-5 comeback win and forced the Braves to exit Dodger Stadium with just their fifth 0-7 start in the modern era. The most recent Atlanta team to do this was the 2016 club that was 9-28 when Snitker replaced former manager Fredi Gonzalez.
"I don¡¯t wish this on anybody in a competitive arena,¡± Snitker said. ¡°What we¡¯re going through is tough, very tough. Everybody knows it. Those guys in there are more aware of it than y¡¯all are. They feel it. It¡¯s hard. And there¡¯s nothing you can do but to fight your way out of it.¡±
Iglesias was on the mound as the Dodgers scored each of the game¡¯s final three runs. His rough outing could be partially blamed on recent inactivity. The veteran closer pitched in a Spring Training game on March 24 and made his regular-season debut exactly one week later, in the eighth inning of Monday¡¯s 6-1 loss to the Dodgers.
This was his first save opportunity, and it was somewhat unorthodox. Iglesias replaced Daysbel Hern¨¢ndez in the eighth inning with one out, a runner on first and a 2-0 count to Will Smith. He walked Smith, surrendered a game-tying double to Max Muncy and then returned for the ninth, during which Ohtani hit a first-pitch changeup over the center-field wall.
"It¡¯s not on [Iglesias] whatsoever,¡± Riley said.
The late-inning margin for error could have been much more significant had the Braves taken advantage of the golden opportunity presented in the sixth when the heart of the order came up with the bases loaded and no outs. But Marcell Ozuna¡¯s flyout wasn¡¯t deep enough to score a run. Matt Olson then followed a Riley strikeout with a harmless popup to short.
¡°From a personal standpoint, it¡¯s honestly embarrassing what I¡¯ve displayed offensively,¡± Riley said. ¡°I¡¯ve got a lot of work to do. It¡¯s embarrassing.¡±
Riley is 3-for-27 with 11 strikeouts. He snapped an 0-for-19 skid with a fourth-inning single that put two on with two out against Snell, but Olson followed by grounding out to second base.
These sequences just added to the list of missed chances for the Braves, who entered Wednesday having totaled two runs over their previous four games. The nine runs they tallied through Tuesday set a franchise record for the fewest through the first six games of any season. Much of the futility could be blamed on going 1-for-34 with runners in scoring position during these first six games.
Asked what led him to shuffle his lineup for Wednesday's game against the left-handed Snell, Snitker chuckled and said, ¡°What are we going to do, not score?¡±
A couple of Muncy throwing errors allowed the Braves to score five unearned runs through the first two innings. Nick Allen, who may have supplanted Orlando Arcia as the primary shortstop, began his two-hit night with an RBI double in the two-run first. Ozzie Albies and Olson tallied RBI doubles in a three-run second inning.
The Braves were 4-for-8 with RISP through the first two innings and 1-for-7 the rest of the game.
Ozuna walked in both of the first two frames and has constructed a .552 on-base percentage with the assistance of a MLB-high 13 walks. Olson has drawn seven walks and tallied three extra-base hits. But with Albies being the only Braves player with multiple hits with RISP (2-for-8), too many opportunities have been squandered.
Riley has gone 0-for-6 with three strikeouts w/RISP. Olson is 1-for-6 in these situations and Ozuna¡¯s early value has been diminished as he¡¯s gone 1-for-5 with three strikeouts when he¡¯s come to the plate in a run-producing situation.
¡°We put ourselves here,¡± Snitker said. ¡°We¡¯ve just got to keep fighting and get ourselves out of it.¡±