The Braves knew their 10-game stretch against the Dodgers, Nationals and Giants were going to be key as September rolled around. Eight games in and the team has lost six times, most recently on Friday night by a score of 5-3 to the hands of Ryan Vogelsong and San Francisco.
Jason Heyward hit a solo homer in the first to give the Braves an early 1-0 lead. Freddie Freeman followed in the second with a solo shot of his own.
It was all downhill from there for Atlanta and Ben Sheets.
Sheets continued his struggles of the last few weeks, lasting just 4.1 innings. He surrendered four runs on nine hits and three walks, striking out two. It appears the honeymoon is over for the veteran starter, which is a real shame given his incredible story in July.
The Giants struck for two runs in the third and fourth innings, and a double from Buster Posey pushed the lead to 5-2 after six frames. Atlanta squandered a couple of opportunities late before going down in order against Javier Lopez.
Atlanta will look to end their losing skid on Saturday afternoon against Madison Bumgarner.