Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Paul Maholm hadn’t allowed a run through his first 25.1 innings, putting together a 3-o record in the process. Unfortunately, that’s when the wheels fell off for the 30-year-old left-hander, as he allowed three runs en route to a 3-1 road loss on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
After jumping ahead of Sterling Marte 0-2 to start the inning, Maholm threw four straight balls to walk Pittsburgh’s leadoff man. Jose Tabata sacrificed Marte to second and then Andrew McCutchen doubled high off the right field wall to the tie the game. Gaby Sanchez followed with a two-run home run to straightaway center field, and just like that, the Braves found themselves down by two runs, which would ultimately be the final margin.
The key inning was likely the top of the second, when Atlanta loaded the bases with no outs and only managed one run. By coming up so small in such a big situation, the Braves kept their cold streak going, losing for the third time in four games, including their second-straight defeat at the hands the Pirates. They never had a runner past second base the rest of the game and ended up striking out 13 times.
Coming into this season, anyone who has followed the personnel that the Braves possess knew that it was often going to be a headache to watch this team when it struggles. However, most people, including myself, felt that it would be worth it because of the hot streaks that Atlanta is capable of going on at any time (case-in-point: a 10-game winning streak earlier this season).
The question is, what do you do when a team with so much potential isn’t hitting?
In my opinion, the Braves should sit a few of their regulars during Sunday’s series finale. That means starting someone like Reed Johnson over Jason Heyward in right field and shifting Chris Johnson over from first base to third in place of Juan Francisco, while having Gattis make his third start of the year at first and Gerald Laird take care of things behind the plate.
First baseman Freddie Freeman could be back by Monday, which will be a welcome sight for a petering offense, but this definitely isn’t the time for manager Fredi Gonzalez to sit idly by and watch his team continue to struggle.
It’s time to shake things up in hopes of building as big a lead as possible in the National League East before the Washington Nationals, who have been up and down so far, find their footing.
Josh McKinney is an Atlanta Braves writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @SuperJMac32, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
