Braves’ bats silenced by Garrett Crochet as Atlanta loses fourth straight series

Atlanta had some opportunities against Crochet, but the Braves went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. They had runners at the corners with two out in the third inning, but designated hitter Marcell Ozuna struck out. An inning later, they had two runners on with none out but couldn’t muster a run.

To Braves starter Bryce Elder’s credit, he rebounded after a rough first inning and allowed one hit over the next four scoreless innings. He pitched 5⅓ innings, allowing three runs, striking out four and walking three.

“He gave us a chance,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We didn’t score more than one run.”

This was Elder’s first major league outing since May 14 as he rejoined the rotation following AJ Smith-Shawver’s season-ending UCL tear. Elder has developed a friendship with Smith-Shawver and was emotionally discussing his injury after Sunday’s game.

“It’s terrible,” Elder said. “I’d rather sit in Triple-A than be up here for this reason. It’s the worst possible way I could get called up. I’ve gotten to know him being in Triple-A last year. We’ve worked out together for a few offseasons, so I’ve seen him since he was 19. To see him get in a groove and start doing what he was capable of doing, then this happens, it’s terrible. I’m praying for him and hoping everything goes well in the next year. I really hate that.”

Elder gave the Braves a chance, but as manager Brian Snitker has said, this team simply has no margin for error right now. A three-run hole often feels insurmountable.

Since leaving Boston with a 24-23 record May 18, the Braves are 3-8.

“I was thinking about it the other day, how quick things can change in this game,” Snitker said. “You never take anything for granted. You could win five or six in a row, then you turn around and lose three in a row. And it’s like, ‘How does that happen?’ So I don’t know. It’s just the way the game is.”

Ozuna has torched the Red Sox in his career. He hit his 11th homer in 24 games against them Sunday, taking Crochet deep in the opening frame. Yet that’s all the offense Atlanta managed against one of the sport’s premier young southpaws.

This series continued the Braves’ maddening up-and-down offensive trend. And the bottom line is that it resulted in another loss that dropped the Braves to 27-31.

They’ll hope the rest of this month yields far better results — since 2018, the Braves lead the majors with 103 victories in June.

The Braves need a fruitful month: They’re fourth place in the National League East, dropping behind even the Nationals. They’re 9-1/2 games behind the Mets and 8-1/2 games behind the Phillies. They’re behind eight games in the Wild Card standings.

“I think we have a lot of good baseball ahead,” Elder said. “Coming up earlier in the year, I didn’t know where everybody’s heads were at after that 0-7 start. But coming up today and seeing everybody, seems they’re on the right track and moving in the right direction.”

The Braves are off Monday before opening a three-game home series against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. Arizona has lost nine of 10 and has sunk down the standings.

Still, like the Braves, the D-Backs have the talent to get back into the postseason picture down the stretch. The Braves took two of three in Phoenix in April.