MINNEAPOLIS — Mauricio Dubón slammed his helmet into the dirt as he walked back to the dugout, a reminder that sometimes a series’ tone can be painted by a single moment.
The Braves’ left fielder had erupted at home plate umpire Carlos Torres after striking out on a check swing to conclude a nine-pitch at-bat. Dubón expressed frustration that Torres didn’t check with the first-base umpire, and then manager Walt Weiss interjected in his defense.
Weiss was ejected. Dubón stormed back to the dugout. The sequence was the boiling point of a maddening, inexplicable few days in Minnesota.
The Braves were swept, losing Wednesday’s finale 6-4. It was one of their most uninspiring series of the season and has swung the door further open for the Phillies, who will enter play Wednesday evening just five games back in the National League East.
It was a dreary series offensively. The Braves scored just eight runs, half of which came in the finale, against a team that considers pitching a weakness. The offense had largely sputtered for a couple of weeks, but this felt like a low point. Weiss, asked about the issues Tuesday, said simply that his team needed to assemble better at-bats.
While the offensive performance was better in the finale, it wasn’t good enough. And it’s led to a very difficult start to a four-city road trip.
“The bottom line is you have to be able to score some runs (in these games),” third baseman Austin Riley said. “Hopefully (it’s) just one of those stretches, it’s the ebbs and flows of the season. Some missed opportunities these last three days. I’m still confident that we can wake up tomorrow and score some runs.”
AJ Smith-Shawver returned to the mound and made just his second major league start in 445 days. It was the official beginning of what he hopes is an ascent that earns him a spot in the postseason rotation.
Smith-Shawver saw his pitch count bumped up early because of some bad luck, but he was solid before wearing down in the fifth frame. He surrendered four runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings, leaving after issuing a bases-loaded walk to Josh Bell. Kody Clemens’ double off Dylan Dodd scored two more runs charged to Smith-Shawver.
Before he slowed down, Smith-Shawver illustrated some of the ability that’s led many to believe he’ll be a postseason starter for this club, including inducing 11 whiffs on 21 swings against his splitter.
The Twins’ first run came partly on good fortune. Smith-Shawver issued a one-out walk to Victor Caratini, then Kaelen Culpepper popped a ball off the bat at 75 mph that dropped just in front of Michael Harris II in center field. Luke Keaschall then bunted the ball into the air just over Smith-Shawver’s head, allowing him to reach base.
Byron Buxton’s grounder produced a run, but on top of it the Braves weren’t able to create an out. Smith-Shawver, then faced with another bases-loaded situation, coaxed a double play from Bell.
An inning later, Royce Lewis laced a single to left. He stole second and advanced on a missed-catch error by the normally defensively sound shortstop Jim Jarvis. Smith-Shawver struck out Trevor Larnach and retired Brooks Lee on a grounder to leave the runner at third.
It was encouraging to see Smith-Shawver navigate those circumstances. He lost command in his final frame, but there was more good than bad in his return.
“It’s nice to work through that,” Smith-Shawver said. “I got out of that one inning with the bases loaded the first time through. The second time, I wasn’t as competitive, walked a few guys, didn’t let my stuff play. That’s what’s frustrating in these games.”
There will be a lot of attention on Smith-Shawver over the next month. He could be a legitimate key contributor to the Braves’ postseason aspirations.
“I’m excited about AJ,” Weiss said. “I think he’s going to really help us moving forward. These (guys who underwent Tommy John surgery), it takes time. It’s a little uneven when they come back at first. But he’s a very talented kid and he’s going to help us.”
The Braves reset the game with a three-run sixth that included the tying run scoring on a Tommy Nance balk (they’ll take whatever they can get, given their offensive issues). The team, though, couldn’t muster more afterward.
The Braves scored almost as many runs in that sixth as they had across the first 23 innings of the series (four). And it’s been discouraging to the point that after the Twins took the lead off the reliever combination of Victor Mederos and Dylan Lee, it felt like a Braves’ loss was inevitable.
Notably, the Braves failed to challenge multiple strikes that would have been balls. Riley’s final at-bat concluded on a missed call. Outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. struck out in the ninth while two of the called strikes were out of the zone.
Riley took responsibility for his miss, saying he should’ve challenged. Weiss said the team has continued discussing how to approach the issue.
“This has been a running debate,” Weiss said. “It’s tougher than it looks. It’s in the heat of the moment and it has to be a split-second decision. You’re trying to weigh the risk and the reward in the moment. It’s just a lot to think about. After the fact, you’d like to have some of those calls overturned. But I don’t think it’s quite as easy as it looks.”
Some history Wednesday: Second baseman Ozzie Albies had his 12th sacrifice fly of the season in the sixth inning. He’s tied with Hank Aaron and Del Crandall (both in 1960) for the most sacrifice flies in a single season in franchise history.
This unique road trip continues with a one-game stop in Chicago on Thursday. Grant Holmes (7-5, 3.82) will face White Sox lefty Anthony Kay (9-5, 4.01). The Braves will then open a series in Milwaukee on Friday that concludes Sunday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with the Little League Classic.
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