Braves shut out opponents in loss to D-backs

PHOENIX — Braves manager Brian Snitker and some of his players have spent the last few weeks saying at times something like, “We don’t feel like we’re at full capacity yet.”

With three days until the All-Star break, it seems time to ask what it will take for this team to finally get on a sustained winning streak.

“I don’t know,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson said. “That’s a good question. I don’t have an answer for it.”

The answer was not forthcoming, as the Braves failed to make up for the lone run Max Fried gave up in a 1-0 loss to the D-backs on Thursday night at Chase Field. Olson came within feet of a game-tying home run in the ninth inning and Sean Murphy was robbed of a multi-base hit in the eighth inning.

But it’s not enough to stick together, especially when the Braves were trying to finish the first half of the season on a roll. They won two of three against the Phillies last weekend, then won the first two games of this four-game series. But that momentum faded with back-to-back losses to the D-backs.

“We wanted to win the series, but it didn’t work out,” Snitker said.

Three months after their only five-game winning streak this year, the Braves have little to talk about. They entered Thursday’s game having scored at least five runs in each of their last six games. But Brandon Pfaddt held them to three hits in six scoreless innings.

So Fried had to dwell on the 3-2 changeup that Eugenio Suarez hit over the center-field wall to start the bottom of the fifth. Suarez hit a home run off Charlie Morton’s curveball on Wednesday. If Fried had been able to get that pitch, he might not have lost his momentum.

“I haven’t felt this good in a long time, mechanics-wise, timing-wise and everything else,” Fried said. “Knowing I make a mistake and give up a home run, it was an outing like that, with the way I felt and the things I had, it could have been scoreless.”

Fried might not have insisted on that pitch if he had offensive help. Olson’s long ninth-inning drive was intercepted off the wall by left fielder Jake McCarthy. According to Statcast, it would have been a home run in 15 of the 30 major league stadiums.

“Honestly, it should have gone further than it should have,” Olson said. “I didn’t hit it well.”

McCarthy was playing center when he went a long way to rob Murphy of what would have been a one-out double in the eighth.

But the Braves had only themselves to blame when Olson, Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall were pulled after Austin Riley led off the top of the seventh with a double.

How can the Braves get going offensively?

1. Get Olson Back on Track
Olson was a key cog in the cogs of the season but has failed to get on track this year. His attempt to build on last year’s MVP-winning momentum has been fraught with frustration. He’s hitting .234 with 13 homers and a .728 OPS. He had a 1.063 OPS in 20 games from May 26 to June 16. But he’s hit .153 with a .470 OPS in the 23 games since.

The veteran first baseman could benefit mentally and physically from the All-Star break as much as any Braves player.

2. Bat Riley second, especially against right-handed starters
Ozzie Albies is hitting .221 with a .640 OPS from the left side this year. The ambidextrous second baseman just doesn’t seem like a good option to hit second against right-handed pitchers. Instead, the Braves could take a chance by putting Austin Riley and Ozuna back-to-back in the lineup. Riley has a 1.195 OPS over his last 26 games and Ozuna has a .942 OPS this season, seventh best in MLB (min. 300 at-bats).

Albies has an .891 OPS from the right side. But it’s also hard to pass up the opportunity to have Ozuna and Riley facing a left-handed pitcher in the first inning. So, against a left-handed pitcher, it might make sense to put Albies at the top of the lineup and follow him with Riley and Ozuna. That would just force Jarred Kelenic to hit in the lineup during those games.

3. Make a transaction
Michael Harris II has been out since June 14 with a hamstring injury. He ran last week and could soon begin minor league rehab. His return after the All-Star break would help add depth to the roster. But the key to getting this offense back on track could depend on whether the team can add another quality outfielder before the July 30 trade deadline.