ATLANTA -- It wasn’t the homecoming that starter Clarke Schmidt expected. It wasn’t what the Yankees anticipated either, as they lost their third straight game, 11-3, to the high-powered Braves on Monday evening at Truist Park.

With Schmidt’s family and friends in attendance, the Acworth, Ga., native allowed a career-high eight runs on nine hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. It was the most hits Schmidt allowed in a game since April 28 against the Rangers, and it was his shortest start of the year.

“I want to be that guy that guys can kind of hang their hat on when I go out there and give the team a chance to win,” Schmidt said. “Obviously, I didn't do that tonight, especially coming off a tough loss last night.

“So that's probably the part that stings the most, regardless of a homecoming and whatever [other] external circumstances that go into it.”

Before Monday’s series opener, the righty hadn’t allowed more than three runs in his past 15 outings. He started the game well, inducing a groundout from Ronald Acuña Jr. and striking out Michael Harris II. Schmidt had a hiccup when Austin Riley hit a home run in the first inning -- the seventh homer allowed in his past eight starts -- but he ended the first on a flyout by red-hot Matt Olson.

Schmidt faced trouble in the second and third innings. With two outs, the score tied at 1 and a pair of runners in scoring position, Nicky Lopez hit a two-run single in a 0-2 count against Schmidt. Then, Acuña Jr. walked in a full count to set up Harris’ go-ahead RBI single.

“I thought in that first inning, [Schmidt’s stuff] was good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “And then the second inning, just especially with the bottom of their order -- where we kind of struggled with all night -- he just had some count leverage and just couldn't put it away. He's probably a pitch away from getting out of that [second] inning unscathed and they just put together some good at-bats against him.”

In the third, Atlanta scored four consecutive one-out runs against Schmidt in a five-hit inning. Rosario hit a two-run single (1-2 count), then Orlando Arcia (0-2 count) and Lopez hit consecutive RBI singles. Schmidt exited after Lopez’s knock, and Ian Hamilton replaced him. The righty earned his first loss since June 6 after securing six wins in his past nine games.

“Stuff felt great. I think execution felt good for the most part,” Schmidt said. “And I think there's just a handful of two-strike pitches that I wish I had back. But sometimes you get your [butt] beat a little bit out there, and I think that's kind of, for lack of a better term, what happened tonight.”

Despite the rough outing, Schmidt, along with ace Gerrit Cole, has been a critical piece to a rotation decimated by injuries and off-the-field issues. The Georgia kid’s play will be crucial for the Yankees with 43 games left this season.

So will New York’s offense. The club appeared to find its offense in its crushing loss on Sunday in Miami, but the bats struggled again in the series opener in Atlanta. Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Aaron Judge began the game with back-to-back hard-hit singles against Braves starter Max Fried that set up Harrison Bader’s RBI groundout, then Kiner-Falefa added an RBI single in the second.

Fried cooled the Yankees’ bats off, keeping them scoreless in his final four-plus innings. The Yanks notched only one more run -- Anthony Volpe’s RBI triple in the ninth -- over the final seven innings, going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and leaving five men on base.

“I think [Fried] was just mixing pitches, and he’s able to execute, and they had a good game plan on everybody,” said Kiner-Falefa, who went 3-for-4. “So yeah, it's just a tough game all around.”

The Yankees sit at 60-59, dropping 5 1/2 games out of the third American League Wild Card spot. This marks the first time New York has been one game above .500 or worse since it was 18-17 on May 7.

“Obviously, it's been a tough stretch, and we've been wearing it lately,” Boone said. “But I know we're ready to compete every day, and that's the only thing you control.”