The Evening TiltBraves Blanked 12-0 at Miami

This morning the Braves had won 13 of 15 series. Tonight they lost 12-0 at loanDepot Park. Baseball.

Braves

Max Meyer shut them down. Six innings, three hits, six strikeouts, complete command. The Braves' lineup — first in MLB in runs scored — managed four hits total and went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position. The offense was not present.

JR Ritchie lasted four innings and took the loss. Six runs, six hits, 83 pitches. His ERA ballooned from 3.32 to 4.91 — the worst start of his five-game career. The bigger concern is the 16 walks in 25.2 innings this season. The stuff is there. The command is still finding itself.

The fifth inning was the ugly part. Aaron Bummer entered a 6-0 game and made it 12-0. Five walks in one inning. A 38 percent strike rate. Javier Sanoja's first career grand slam. Xavier Edwards' solo shot. Forty-two pitches, sixteen strikes. Jorge Mateo, the utility infielder, pitched the eighth.

The Braves are 32-16. Still the best record in baseball. Still up eight in the NL East. The run differential dropped from plus-98 to plus-86, which is still first in the sport. This is a filing-cabinet loss, not a narrative one.

Ellis has the full breakdown — the walk rate, the bullpen stress test, and what this game tells you about the margins when half the roster is on the injured list. Dex has the reaction to being crowned number one in MLB's Power Rankings on Saturday and losing 12-0 on Monday — and why he is not moving his 92 percent.

Atlanta United

No game tonight. The Open Cup quarterfinal at Orlando is tomorrow — 7:30 PM at Inter&Co Stadium, the same venue where the Five Stripes drew 1-1 on Friday. Same opponent, elimination stakes. This is the most consequential game of the season so far. The league table says 14th in the East. The Cup run says there is still something to play for.

One more thing. The Marlins' attendance at loanDepot Park tonight was 8,672. The Braves brought a four-game series against the best team in baseball to a building that was mostly empty. Somewhere in that stadium, a 24-year-old named Javier Sanoja hit the first grand slam of his life. Nobody saw it coming. That is the thing about 162 games — every one of them is someone's best night.