Braves’ offense quiet again in 4-1 loss to the Giants

A long west coast road trip came to an end for the Atlanta Braves Wednesday with a 4-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

Charlie Morton’s afternoon began by hitting leadoff man LaMonte Wade Jr. with a 2-2 pitch. Morton recovered and retired the next three hitters in order, including a pair of strikeouts. He retired the first two hitters in the second before finding himself in trouble again. J.D. Davis singled and then moved up to second on a walk by Willie Calhoun. That proved costly as Austin Wynns followed with a single to right that scored Davis to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

The Braves quickly answered back in the third. Vaughn Grissom worked a lead off walk and moved up to second on an errant pickoff attempt that Wynns airmailed into right field. Carlos Rodon struck out Marcell Ozuna for the first out, but Robbie Grossman followed with a single that scored Grissom to tie the game.

Morton worked a perfect inning in the third, but the Giants retook the lead in the fourth. David Villar led off the inning with a double down the left field line. Morton then struck out Brandon Crawford for the first out, but Davis followed with a double to the left center gap to make it 2-1.

William Contreras led off the fifth with a single, but was left stranded as Rodon struck out Michael Harris and Ozuna while getting Grissom to line out. Rodon would exit after the fifth despite having thrown just 71 pitches. He allowed two hits, an unearned run and struck out eight.

Morton worked a scoreless fifth and came back out for the sixth. He got Joc Pederson to fly out to start the inning, but then hit Villar and walked Brandon Crawford. After a first pitch ball to Davis, Brian Snitker popped out of the dugout and summoned Jesse Chavez from the bullpen who walked Davis to load the bases. Chavez then got Willie Calhoun to pop out for the second out, but then allowed a two-run single by Wynns to extend San Francisco’s lead to 4-1. Snitker would again go to his bullpen for Tyler Matzek who struck out pinch-hitter Lewis Brinson to escape with no further damage.

The Braves got a two-out single from William Contreras in the seventh, but Michael Harris bounced out against Scott Alexander to end the inning. Matzek stayed in the game and added two more strikeouts while retiring the side in order in the home half of the inning.

Atlanta threatened again in the eighth against John Brebbia. Eddie Rosario, pinch-hitting for Marcell Ozuna, reached on a swinging bunt to get things started. Grossman followed by dumping a single down the line in left to bring the tying run to the plate. However, Acuña struck out swinging at a pitch down and away and Swanson flew out to center to leave the runners stranded.

Jackson Stephens tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth, but Camilo Doval closed the door in the ninth to end the game.

Atlanta drops to 88-55 on the season and are a game back of the Mets pending the outcome of their game with the Cubs. The Braves will enjoy a much-needed off day Thursday before starting a six-game homestand with a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies.