A loss in the first game of the season against the New York Mets was bad for the Atlanta Braves.
The loss of Spencer Strider to right arm soreness during his start was worse.
Strider’s departure after his fastball plummeted to 88-89 mph in the fourth inning overshadowed Atlanta’s 7-5 loss in Queens, N.Y. Friday night.
Mind you, it wasn’t a good start before the velocity dropped for Strider, who allowed a season-high seven runs on six hits — including three home runs — in three-plus innings.
But the optics of another apparent arm injury for a player who has been plagued by them of late are much worse than just a bad start, looming over a starting rotation which should get healthier in the coming weeks and months but isn’t quite there yet.
It didn’t seem the Braves were going to be in a competitive game when Strider exited in a 6-2 game which quickly became 7-2 when an inherited runner scored. Bo Bichette and Juan Soto hit back-to-back homers in the first off Strider.
After Atlanta scored two of its own in the second — before failing to take the lead with the bases loaded and no outs — the Mets reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning on another Bichette homer, this one a wall-scraping grand slam.
Credit to JR Ritchie, who was tasked with a bulk-relief appearance in his return to the major league level, for stabilizing things. He allowed the inherited run from Strider on a single to the first batter he faced and then a Bichette sacrifice fly for his sixth RBI.
But from there, Ritchie was dominant the rest of the way, allowing just one more hit and two walks over five total innings of work, striking out five. He did it on just 73 pitches, a promising response after his pitch count would often get a bit elevated in his first stint with the Braves earlier this season.
That shutdown from the rookie allowed the Braves to chip into the deficit. They got a run back in the fifth on a solo homer from Matt Olson, his 20th of the season. They got two more in the eighth on RBI singles from Ozzie Albies (team-high two hits and two runs) and Eli White.
They brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth in the form of pinch hitter Rowdy Tellez, who popped out to strand two, and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after Mauricio Dubon worked a 14-pitch at-bat that ended with a single.
But Michael Harris II and Olson each struck out to strand Dubon and end the game short of what would have been a morale-boosting victory given the circumstances.
Instead, it was the Braves’ third straight loss, just their second three-game losing streak of the season and the first since April 4-6. They’ll look to avoid their first four-game losing streak of the season Saturday night when Martin Perez (4-3, 3.02 ERA) to the mound against a TBD pitcher for New York.
