Braves miss chance as Strider yields career-high 9 hits

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Braves were in prime position Monday night to pull within half a game of first place in the NL East. Instead, they're treading water after a 3-2 loss to the Giants in the series opener at Oracle Park.

Atlanta has held at least a share of first place in the division for only two days this year. With 21 games remaining in the regular season, Monday brought an opportunity to make a move. The first-place Mets lost to the Cubs earlier in the day.

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While the Braves made things interesting against the Giants, pulling within one thanks to a two-run eighth inning, they ultimately could not come back after top NL Rookie of the Year candidate Spencer Strider allowed three runs (two earned).

Strider, who started a turn earlier in the rotation after Kyle Wright's spot was pushed back a day due to arm fatigue, was perhaps his own harshest critic on a night when he didn't perform up to his standards.

"I just pitched like an idiot a lot of times," Strider said. "I didn't make adjustments like I needed to. My fastball was arm-side -- not by a ton, but didn't do anything to really adjust to get back to glove-side."

Strider didn't exactly get shelled over five innings. But the Giants forced the 23-year-old right-hander to work around more traffic than usual, recording nine hits. That's a career high for Strider, and it was only the fourth time he has allowed more than five hits in a game.

Four hits Monday came in the second inning, which gave the Giants an early edge. After Strider got former Braves outfielder Joc Pederson to fly out to lead off the inning, the right-hander gave up four straight hits, including back-to-back RBI singles by Willie Calhoun and Luis González.

Though Strider's efforts were enough to keep the Braves close, he later couldn't help but feel that he could have done more.

"You pitch to the context of the game," Strider said. "Their guy is shoving, and he's keeping us off-balance -- it's going to take a while to get the bats going. So I've got to keep us in the game. I can't let us feel like we're behind."

Braves manager Brian Snitker and Strider's teammates, however, were much more positive about his outing.

"It says a lot about him," Snitker said. "You know, a young guy that doesn't let the roof cave in on him when it's not just everything going perfect."

Added third baseman Austin Riley: "He's pitching to contact; he's not just trying to strike everybody out. He's making pitches, letting the defense work."

Though Strider kept the Braves within striking distance, San Francisco's pitchers did not give the lineup many chances to get on the board. Atlanta's offense struggled to string hits together, going 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position and failing to scratch anything across until Dansby Swanson singled with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth.

After dropping the last two in Seattle and the series opener in San Francisco, the Braves are riding a three-game losing streak, which matches a season high. The good news is that they remain at 1 1/2 games behind the division leaders.

But then again, time is running out.

The Braves aren't mired in their current rough patch, though. They just see it as a bump in the road that they need to get over in order to move on to better things.

"We're doing pretty well about minimizing these things," Snitker said. "It happens. We've still got 20-some games … and we've just got to fight through it and get a win tomorrow."