Braves can't back Ynoa's solid outing

ATLANTA -- As the Braves continue progressing through the most challenging portion of their schedule, they have been able to get a better feel for how they stack up against the game’s top teams and how young pitchers like Huascar Ynoa might handle the pennant race.

Ynoa showed the same poise he had during an impressive effort against the Yankees earlier in the week. But the Braves’ powerful offense never delivered a big blow in a 5-0 loss to the Giants on Saturday night at Truist Park.

“These are really good lineups he’s facing and he can hang in there with anybody in the game,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s kind of proven that and his stuff plays against anybody.”

Tommy La Stella’s first-inning homer and Mike Yastrzemski’s seventh-inning homer off Richard Rodríguez hurt the Braves, who have lost three of four since winning a season-best nine straight games. Two of the losses came against the Yankees, who ended a 13-game winning streak on Saturday, and the other, of course, came against the Giants, who own MLB’s best record.

While concluding this three-game set on Sunday and beginning a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday, the Braves will attempt to strengthen their National League East lead, which slipped to 4 1/2 games on Saturday. But they also want to prove that they weren’t just feasting on weak competition when they entered the Yankees series having won 16 of their past 18 games.

Ynoa allowed two runs and three hits over six innings. After allowing La Stella’s homer, he retired six straight and then surrendered a one-out double to Giants starter Logan Webb, who entered the game with three hits in 37 at-bats. This led to Webb scoring on La Stella’s third-inning sacrifice fly.

“He was solid,” Snitker said. “We haven’t won a game yet that we haven’t scored a run for him. No, I thought he was good.”

After Giants third baseman Wilmer Flores’ throwing error put runners at the corners with none out in the sixth, Dansby Swanson popped out and Travis d’Arnaud grounded into a double play. Swanson also stranded two in the first and third innings for the Braves, who hadn’t been shut out in a nine-inning game since April 3, which was their second game of the season.

This wasn’t one of the more dominating starts we’ve seen from Ynoa, who induced just four swing-and-misses during this 96-pitch effort. But the 23-year-old hurler got a called strike with 14 of the 30 sliders the Giants didn’t swing at and he limited one of the game’s most potent offenses to just two runs.

Looking ahead, Ynoa has continually proven he has the potential to be an asset over the rest of the regular season and into the postseason. He has produced a 2.95 ERA over 11 starts and has been effective in each of the three starts he has made since missing three months with a fractured right hand.

“I'm thankful that everything's kind of been going well, and you know, obviously, I'm just trying to give my best effort and do what I can to help the team win,” Ynoa said through an interpreter. “Hopefully, it keeps going.”

Ynoa has shown no lingering effects from the fracture suffered when he punched the dugout bench in Milwaukee on May 16. He has allowed five runs over 17 2/3 innings since being activated from the disabled list. Making this even more impressive is the fact he’s made his past two starts against the Yankees and Giants, who both possess a potent lineup.

“I think it's definitely given me a little bit more confidence and it's allowing me to enjoy the adrenaline in the competition a little bit more,” Ynoa said. “I think the competition and the adrenaline are two things that I've always enjoyed and as these games progress, I feel like it's given me more confidence to be able to kind of just enjoy it.”