Despite recent losses, Braves leave May upbeat

ATLANTA -- As Mike Foltynewicz digested how a potentially impressive start quickly became so frustrating in Friday night’s 8-2 loss to the Tigers, he and his Braves teammates still had reason to recognize a discouraging end to May did not erase the progress made during the month.

“We are a very good team,” Braves catcher Brian McCann said. “The last couple of days, we haven’t played our best baseball. But you turn the page, come out tomorrow and continue to play well.”

The Braves have lost three straight since entering this homestand having won 12 of their past 16 games. But as the defending National League East champs went 16-12 this month, they created a realistic sense of hope that didn’t exist when they exited April without Austin Riley or much reason to be confident about their pitching staff.

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Freddie Freeman (.979 OPS) and Riley (seven homers and a 1.143 OPS through his first 15 career games) compensated for the fact Dansby Swanson (.694 OPS), Nick Markakis (.688 OPS) and Ozzie Albies (.615 OPS) struggled for much of the month. But the Braves produced a winning record because of the solidification of a rotation that put up a 3.61 ERA (2.94 entering Wednesday), despite Kevin Gausman and Foltynewicz combining to allow 13 earned runs over six innings in the past two games.

“It starts with pitching,” McCann said. “We have five great starters.”

Mike Soroka has been one of the game’s top starters this season, and Julio Teheran came out of nowhere to produce a 0.98 ERA in May. But while another proven starter might be added to the mix before the end of July, the rotation’s success will be heavily influenced by Foltynewicz, who was understandably frustrated after allowing the Tigers seven hits, including three homers, and five earned runs over just five innings.

“When he started out, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be really good,’” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “The next thing you know, you look up an there’s five runs on the board.”

Though the results were not desirable, this outing was more impressive than ones Foltynewicz fashioned while producing a 8.02 ERA through his first four starts. His fastball had life and his slider led to seven of his season-high eight strikeouts. But he also gave up the three home runs, which brings his season total to 13 through 38 1/3 innings -- four fewer than he allowed over 183 innings last year.

“I didn’t do a good job tonight calling that game,” McCann said. “His stuff was there. He only threw a couple mistakes, and they capitalized. But I didn’t do a good job of mixing it up.”

McCann displayed his leadership qualities by shouldering the blame. But at the same time, he was frustrated by the fact Grayson Greiner had hit a second-inning solo homer against an elevated 96.2 mph fastball, then Niko Goodrum took advantage of a hanging changeup when he began his two-homer game with a third-inning solo shot.

But Nicholas Castellanos surprised both McCann and Foltynewicz when he drilled a two-run homer against a curveball down in the zone during the fifth. Castellanos entered the game 5-for-24 with two doubles and a homer against curveballs.

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“[Foltynewicz’s] stuff is there,” McCann said. “His location is there. It’s just one of those games. It felt like we couldn’t get in a rhythm, and I put a lot of that on my shoulders.”

Foltynewicz’s slider was a liability, as he struggled through the first four starts he made after beginning the season on the injured list because of a right elbow bone spur that forced him to miss most of Spring Training. The pitch has once again become a reliable weapon over the past three starts. The Tigers whiffed against 12 of the 30 he threw Friday.

While Foltynewicz might not be back to where he was in last year’s All-Star season, he has recently made significant progress. A little more than two weeks ago, he exited a clunker against the Cardinals knowing he had just one more chance to prove himself. This latest outing might have damaged his statistics, but it didn’t seem to affect his confidence.

“I think we’re right where we need to be,” Foltynewicz said. “I got a couple of compliments from people saying don’t let this one discourage you.”