It was a rough series for the Atlanta Braves this weekend against the red-hot Yankees. Despite large crowds of 40,000+ in all three games, the Braves were unable to cash in on what seemed like countless scoring opportunities as they lost all three games.
Atlanta dropped game one of the series by a score of 3-0. Ivan Nova pitched very well and Nick Swisher's leaping grab of what looked like a two-run homer from Brian McCann loomed huge for the Yankees momentum in the middle innings. The Braves hit a lot of balls well through nine innings, but they simply did not catch any breaks in this one.
Mike Minor was surprisingly great for 7.1 innings of work in the second game of the series, but a few bloops and a few blasts somehow brought the Yankees from trailing 4-0 to leading 6-4 in the eighth inning, headlined by Alex Rodriguez's grand slam. Fredi Gonzalez called it the toughest loss of the year, and I'm inclined to agree with him.
The series finale saw the Braves leave 13 runners on base, and their only offense was a two-run homer from Brian McCann. Curtis Granderson's two-run homer in the sixth inning proved to be the difference as Atlanta fell by a score of 3-2.
The Braves will have a day to reflect on things on Thursday before taking the diamond once again Friday night against the slumping Baltimore Orioles.
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