On August 9th, 2017, the Atlanta Braves lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 at what is now known as Truist Park. Sean Newcomb started and gave up three runs and two runs from Atlanta in the seventh inning weren’t enough for the Braves to overcome the deficit. The two RBI came from pinch-hitter Danny Santana. Ender Inciarte led off for the Braves and Freddie Freeman was hitting third and holding down the fort at first base. Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson were young talents continuing to cut their teeth in the big leagues. The loss put the Braves at 10 games under .500 at 51-61.
Fast forward to June 8, 2025, the Braves lost 4-3 to the San Francisco Giants, putting Atlanta 10 games under .500 at 27-37. One of the very few things that this 2025 Braves team has in common with the 2017 squad is that they both know what it’s like to be this far below .500.
Other than that, the circumstances and expectations couldn’t be any more different. In 2017 it was understood that Atlanta was still not quite ready to be competitive as far as being a true contender was concerned. This 2025 team, however, entered this season as a World Series contender on paper. Unfortunately, the games aren’t played on paper and real life is putting a beatdown on Atlanta. Let’s talk about how this series went.
Atlanta Braves vs. San Francisco Giants Series Recap
Game 1: Giants 5, Braves 4
There were a few things that Atlanta probably didn’t need to see happen to them following their collapse against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. Spencer Schwellenbach stumbling out of the gate in the first inning was certainly one of them and that’s exactly what happened. Atlanta had to work themselves out of a three-run-hole for most of this game.
The Braves didn’t roll over, as they put a pair of runs on the board in the fourth inning and then they responded to the Giants pushing the deficit back to two runs by eventually tying the game at four runs apiece after Matt Olson hit a game-tying home run in the seventh inning.
Innings seven through nine came and went without much incident but the 10th inning was packed with them. The Braves found themselves in a bases-loaded situation but it was with two outs and Luke Williams at the plate, so the magic wasn’t going to happen this time. It would happen for San Francisco instead, as they used two productive outs and a wild pitch from Pierce Johnson to score the winning walk-off run for the Giants.
Game 2: Giants 3, Braves 2
After another loss in devastating fashion, exasperation was certainly starting to set in for Atlanta. On paper, this pitching matchup didn’t favor the Braves at all, but Bryce Elder has a knack for upending expectations, for better or worse. This time it would be for the better, as Elder delivered arguably the best start of his career so far. Elder went eight innings, striking out a career-high 12 batters, and only gave up three hits and one run with no walks. Elder was fantastic in this one and he gave Atlanta exactly what they needed.
However, it seems if one thing is going right for the Braves, nothing else is allowed to go well. Atlanta’s lineup gave it an admirable effort in this one against star pitcher Logan Webb and he would live up to his expectations, as he struck out 10, but he left the game trailing after he gave up a pair of runs, one of those being a home run from Michael Harris. So while it wasn’t a huge day at the plate for Atlanta, they had seemingly done enough to get a win here.
But then the ninth inning would roll around. With Raisel Iglesias’ bullpen role currently in flux, Johnson was called upon to close the ninth inning. He gave up a one-out single to Heliot Ramos and then got Wilmer Flores to pop out in foul territory before he hung a curveball to Matt Chapman that Chapman would not miss. All of Atlanta’s hard work to scratch out a victory got wiped out in a few pitches and the misery continued for Braves Country.
Game 3: Giants 4, Braves 3
Well, the good news is the Braves didn’t lose this one at the end. Instead, this was just an old-fashioned “come-from-ahead” loss for Atlanta, as it was all good in this one until it suddenly wasn’t. The Braves jumped out to a lead in the first inning of this one thanks to a productive out from Olson cashing in a leadoff walk from Ronald Acuña Jr. and then they would retake the lead in the third inning after Olson hit an RBI double to make it a 3-1 game.
Spencer Strider started for Atlanta in this one and his fourth inning ended up being the fateful one. Strider walked the first two batters he saw and nearly erased those walks after retiring the next two batters he saw. However, Mike Yastrzemski got a hold of a low slider from Strider, sending it into the right-field corner, tying the game while putting himself in scoring position. Strider would then get Tyler Fitzgerald to hit a deep grounder at Albies. Albies booted the ball, so the Braves went from potentially escaping the inning with the lead to leaving the fourth inning trailing 4-3.
That would end up being the play that decided the game. Atlanta’s offense died off following that fourth inning and while Strider eventually settled down and got six innings under his belt, it was not enough to push Atlanta to victory.
Final Thoughts
If you include last season’s NL Wild Card Series, Atlanta has lost 12 straight games in the state of California. They’ve now lost seven consecutive games overall and this is now their second seven-game losing streak of the season. They added three more one-run losses to their tally in this series so they’ve now lost 10 consecutive one-run games. They’re also 3-14 in their last 17 games. Speaking of 17, this takes me back to the aforementioned 2017 season, which was the last year the Braves missed the Postseason. At least in that year, missing the Postseason was always expected. In 2025 it was inconceivable to imagine the Braves being this bad, yet here they are.
If you’re a Braves fan coming here hoping for answers, I’m sorry I don’t have any. The struggles have been going on for over a year now and the injuries are no longer an excuse. Counting Strider, eight of the 10 players who started for Atlanta on Sunday were also on the field to start the game when they clinched the 2023 NL East title in Philadelphia. These are the same guys, but at the same time, they aren’t the same guys, if you catch my drift. If they don’t start living up to their potential immediately, this season is on the verge of becoming a dumpster fire, as they are currently one of the most disappointing teams in baseball.
Main Image: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
