Offensive woes continue as Braves spoil Morton's strong start

ATLANTA -- The Braves are capable of making a deep postseason run with their starting rotation. But their offense might prevent them from even making the playoffs.

Instead of building off the momentum of Sunday’s comeback win over the Blue Jays, the Braves failed to get anything going offensively in a 1-0 loss to the Reds on Monday night at Truist Park, a makeup of a July 24 postponement. They tallied just two hits and squandered one of Charlie Morton's best starts of the season.

“We still have a good lineup we’re running out there every night,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson said. “We’ve got a lot of faith in everybody. Obviously, we didn’t get much going tonight. It’s been a struggle at times this year, but what’s done is done. All we can worry about is tomorrow.”

The Braves now sit a game behind the Mets in the race for the third and final NL Wild Card spot. They have played 3 1/2 months without Ronald Acuña Jr., and it’s been about a month since they learned Austin Riley will miss the rest of the regular season with a fractured right hand.

Whit Merrifield might try to play this weekend against the Dodgers with the foot fracture he suffered on Saturday, but Braves manager Brian Snitker said there has been no indication when his lineup might again include Ozzie Albies, who has missed seven weeks with a left wrist fracture.

“I haven’t heard anything right now,” Snitker said. “Nobody has told me anything. Right now, [Albies] is just coming in and doing the treatment. I think he ran the bases today. But nobody has come in and told me anything is imminent.”

Olson’s first-inning single and seventh-inning infield single accounted for the only hits allowed by Reds starter Nick Martinez, who tied a season high with seven scoreless frames.

The Braves went 182 games between shutouts from May 23, 2023-June 4, but have now been blanked 10 times over their past 86 games, going back to the one-hit shutout they endured at Fenway Park on June 5.

Travis d’Arnaud will return from the paternity list for this weekend’s series against the Dodgers, but the Braves can’t rely on any other reinforcements for a lineup that will continue to lean on Marcell Ozuna, who still has a slim chance to win the Triple Crown, and Olson, who has a .899 OPS over his past 38 games.

“We just have to hope a couple of our big guys get rolling,” Snitker said. "When you’re pitching really well and you’re having trouble scoring runs, there’s just no room for error.”

The Braves have gone 17-11 with their starting pitchers producing an impressive 2.36 ERA over the past 28 games. Morton was the latest victim of the offensive woes. The 40-year-old veteran allowed just one run over 6 2/3 innings, but was foiled by the latest of his back-foot breaking balls to hit a left-handed batter below the knees.

When Morton bruised TJ Friedl’s left foot with a curveball to begin the second inning, it marked the 186th time he hit a batter. That ties him with Tim Wakefield for the fourth-most hit by pitches in the Modern Era. Walter Johnson (205), Randy Johnson (190) and Eddie Plank (190) are the only pitchers with more on this list.

“I’m going to yank those breaking balls,” Morton said. “I do that a lot. I’m not trying to [hit the batter].”

Nor was Morton planning on watching Ty France reach across the plate to hit the next pitch -- a fastball off the plate -- the other way for an RBI double.

France's double sliced down the right-field line and came to rest after rolling into foul territory and hitting the wall where it juts back out toward right field. Friedl was rounding third base as Jorge Soler got to the ball, but Soler’s throw pulled Sean Murphy to the right side of the plate, allowing Friedl to score without a tag.

“It can go your way or it can not go your way,” Morton said. “For all I know, that’s a line drive to Olson and he steps on first for a double play.”

Things aren’t going the right way for the Braves, who have lost six of their past 11 games. Time will tell what these final few weeks will bring.

“A lot of those guys are frustrated right now,” Snitker said. “[Soler] expects to do better. They all expect to do better.”