Atlanta dropped the opener at Wrigley Field, and the way the pitching lined up behind the start may tell fans more about October than the final score did.
The Atlanta Braves lost 7-3 to the Cubs on Monday night at Wrigley Field, and the score was only the second-most important development of the evening.
Right-hander Reynaldo López lasted three innings and allowed five runs on six hits, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong went 4-for-5 with four runs batted in for Chicago, and Atlanta fell to 88-63 in the opener of a three-game set.
The loss stung less than the reason for the early exit, and the reliever who cleaned up afterward is suddenly part of the October conversation.
How the Game Got Away
Chicago scored three times in the second inning, with Crow-Armstrong lining a two-run double, and added two more in the third before López was done after 62 pitches.
Manager Walt Weiss told reporters López did not look right and left with shoulder trouble, and the Braves have since announced the right-hander is going on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.
It was only his second start since a knee problem cost him all of August, which makes the timing even tougher for a rotation trying to line itself up for October.
Crow-Armstrong added a two-run homer in the sixth, his 42nd of the season, and Atlanta's offense managed only a seventh-inning rally in which catcher Sean Murphy drove in a run on a force out and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski followed with a pinch-hit two-run homer.
Left-hander David Peterson held the Braves to one run over six innings, and the last real chance died in the ninth when Atlanta loaded the bases and right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. grounded into a double play.
A Different Look Out of the Bullpen
The quiet bright spot was right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver, who followed López with five innings of two-run relief and saved the rest of the bullpen on a night that could have gotten expensive.
"I think it's just a different look. The way some of my starts have been going, I think it's good to just get a little bit different feel, a little different look at it and I was happy with it," Smith-Shawver said afterward.
With López shelved, the Braves recalled right-hander JR Ritchie, who will start Wednesday at Wrigley, and a stretched-out Smith-Shawver who can start or bridge innings gives Weiss a flexible piece for a playoff rotation that keeps changing shape.
The staff has other encouraging signs, including an update on a key reliever working back for the stretch run and the steady work Tyler Mahle keeps providing.
The Math Still Favors Atlanta
None of Monday changed the standings picture much.
The Braves lead Philadelphia by 4.5 games in the National League East, the magic number to clinch the division sits at seven, and Atlanta plays two more at Wrigley before a Thursday off day and a weekend series in Houston.
The lineup has depth pieces emerging at the right time, including a late-season contributor few saw coming, so one bad night in Chicago is closer to noise than to a warning.
What Atlanta needs most in the next two weeks is exactly what Smith-Shawver showed, arms who can absorb innings in any role without the game getting away.
