It was almost a disastrous series but it ended up just being your standard series loss. It's not good that the Braves lost two straight series to potential playoff teams, obviously, but the fact that they salvaged the final game of the series with a late inning rally is a nice way to end the road trip.
The offense was lackluster for the first two games of the series, totaling just three runs against starters Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller. The struggles they had against Miller were especially worrisome, considering the fact that he has been so wild this year and the Braves should be focusing on taking more walks. Jason Heyward got a hit in every game, including two in game two. Freddie Freeman reached base seven times after getting on base on all four opportunities Sunday afternoon. Along with Freeman's first inning homer, the only other home run from the offense was the moonshot from Justin Upton against Jaime Garcia. The Braves are a powerful lineup, but they need some other guys to step up outside of Upton and Freeman, and they need that to happen very soon.
Ervin Santana made his first poor start with the Braves, allowing five earned runs and 10 hits in just five innings pitched in his first loss of the season. Aaron Harang and Gavin Floyd both turned out solid outings, which is great to see from the four and five starters. With Santana, Julio Teheran, and Mike Minor being the foundation of the rotation, Harang and Floyd as the backend starters works.
The bullpen also pitched well this series, as only Anthony Varvaro and Alex Wood allowed runs. Wood's run was only due to Jordan Schafer losing a ball in the outfield too, so it is good to see that while the offense has continued to struggle, it hasn't spread to the rest of the team. The defense was not as strong as one would hope this series, but they overcame a poor defensive day on Sunday to take the win in the series finale.