Braves News: Atlanta Swept by Toronto, Austin Riley dropped to 4th spot in lineup, more

A few less than ideal trends continued for the Braves this weekend.

For one, the weekend itself remains a tough time to play for Atlanta, as they were swept for the second time in less than a month by an AL team.

Secondly, the Toronto Blue Jays just simply have the Braves number, as Toronto has beat Atlanta nine straight times via three series sweeps since the start of the 2021 season.

The Braves offense had a bit more success on Sunday, as they once again performed well against a left-hander. Atlanta changed up the lineup a bit as well, batting Ozzie Albies third and Austin Riley fourth. Albies had a two-run home run while Riley had two hits to help the Braves have the lead for much of the contest. Unfortunately, defensive errors and bullpen struggles allowed Toronto to deliver the game winning hit on their final strike for a 6-5 win over the Braves.

As the Braves travel next to Texas to face the Rangers, it will be interesting to see what lineup order Brian Snitker settles on to hopefully find some offensive consistency. With four straight losses, the Braves badly need a good stretch of offensive output to hopefully get another series win.

Braves News

• Mark Bowman of mlb.com speculates whether or not Michael Soroka could be an option for Atlanta’s rotation in the near future.
• The Rangers will likely start recent call-up and southpaw Cory Bradford against the Braves on Monday.
• Brad Rowland and Scott Coleman break down several perspectives from a less than idea weekend on the latest edition of the Battery Power Podcast.

MLB News

• As Nolan Arenado continues to heat up, the Cardinals are starting to see a bit more success in the win column as they earned a weekend sweep of the Red Sox.
• In a 4-0 loss to the Rockies, Bryce Harper was involved in a benches-clearing skirmish.
• MLB.com revealed its updated top 100 prospects list, with no Braves making the cut once again.
• Reds placed lefty Nick Lodolo on the 15-day injured list. The Rockies placed first baseman CJ Cron on the 10-day injured list.