Braves Drop Rain delayed Saturday afternoon game against Pirates

The Atlanta Braves lost a rain-delayed game 4-1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates to drop the series Saturday afternoon from PNC Park.

Here’s what you need to know about the competition.

Atlanta’s ERA leader wasn’t exactly cruising, but he was doing well with three runs (two earned) in 4.2 innings before the second rain delay of the day stopped the game in the fifth inning. The delay was just long enough to knock López out of the game despite a perfectly good pitch count – 70 pitches (43 strikes).

On a rainy day, he struggled to swing and miss, producing only seven whiffs (and none on the fastball despite throwing 37). His CSW was 26%, so slightly below league average, but his curveball was actually used up to 10% against an aggressive Pirates lineup that attacked early and often at the plate.

Braves hitters looked to do damage to Pirates starter Mitch Keller (who has historically struggled against Atlanta), and they sure tried: Atlanta had fourteen hard-hit balls (exit velocity greater than or equal to 95 mph) in this one, but an absurd ten of them withdrew. He is tied for the hardest outs by an Atlanta lineup this season, matched only in their loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 3.

Despite what some might think, hitting the ball hard is actually better than not hitting the ball, and generally leads to better results:

Atlanta called reliever Jimmy Herget this morning, just weeks after acquiring him from the Los Angeles Angels for cash. The “Human Glitch” pitched a scoreless eighth inning, with one walk and two strikeouts.

Atlanta finishes the series Sunday afternoon with the veteran Chris Sale (7-1, 2.22 ERA) on the mound opposite the left-hander Martin Perez (1-3, 4.80 ERA), with veteran Sale looking to avoid a Pirates sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Southeast.