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    Takeaways from Atlanta's extra innings loss to the Cleveland Guardians

    The winning streak had to come to an end eventually, and it took Cleveland ten innings to do it

    The Atlanta Braves saw their nine game winning streak finally come to an end as they were walked off by the Cleveland Guardians, 6-5, in ten innings. Here's what you need to know from the contest:

    Ozzie Albies is on FIRE right now

    Jul 3, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies (1) hits an RBI single during the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.

    Ozzie Albies has played seventeen games as the two-hole hitter for Atlanta this season. 

    He's got seven homeruns in those seventeen games. 

    Ever since manager Brian Snitker moved Ozzie up and dropped Matt Olson down to 4th in the lineup, everything's been clicking for the second baseman at the plate. 

    Hitting behind Ronald Acuña Jr and in front of power hitters Austin Riley and Matt Olson (who has been pretty hot himself), Ozzie's seeing more hittable pitches and has been thriving. 

    Ozzie went 2-3 in this game with two homeruns, a game-tying two-run shot in the 5th and then another game-tying solo shot in the 9th to extend the game to an extra frame. 742 feet of homeruns isn't a bad night at the ballpark, at all. 

    He even made a great defensive play in the 10th inning, when Raisel Iglesias fielded a sac bunt and turned to throw to Orlando Arcia at 2nd, with Ozzie making the stretch at 1st base to complete the rare 1-6-4 double play. 

    Kolby Allard (suprisingly) outdueled Cleveland's Shane Bieber

    Jul 4, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud (16) and starting pitcher Kolby Allard (49) celebrate in the second inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.

    Allard, making his 2nd start for Atlanta since being re-acquired via trade in the offseason, went five innings with four hits and three runs, striking out three and walking one. 

    The only player to really do damage against Allard was Amed Rosario, who hit only his 2nd homerun of the season to open the 6th inning (and chase Allard from the game) after doubling home two runs in the 3rd inning.  

    Bieber, however, got knocked out of the game in the 5th inning after Atlanta pushed across four consecutive runs. His final line was 4.2 innings of six hit, four run baseball with five walks and four strikeouts. 

    Allard's arsenal tonight was mostly fastball/curveball/cutter, with the lefty using his location and sequencing to make up for below-average velocity on the pitches. The four-seam fastball averaged 90.5 mph, touching 92, and the cutter was at 84 mph. 

    With his ability to locate and to extend through a full five innings (Allard came out with only 73 pitches), the lefty's a perfectly acceptable back of the rotation option for Atlanta while they wait for Max Fried and Kyle Wright to return from their injuries. 

    In a game of inches, you'll eventually come up a bit short

    Jul 4, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians catcher David Fry (12) tags out Atlanta Braves center fielder Sam Hilliard (14) in the tenth inning at Progressive Field.

    The Braves saw their nine game winning streak come to an end with the extra innings loss, and the frustrating part was about how close they were on several occasions to breaking this one wide open. 

    Atlanta had five of the seven hardest-hit balls on the night, but some fortunate defensive plays resulted in just one hit, a 289 ft Ronald Acuña Jr single to left that came off the bat at 112.5 mph in the 5th inning. (Ozzie Albies immediately cashed this in with a two-run homer to right field.) 

    Sam Hilliard, in as the pinch runner in the 10th inning and trying to score on a sac fly to centerfield, had the tag beat him to the plate by an inch, keeping Atlanta off the board in extras. 

    And Eddie Rosario, with two outs in the 10th, saw the third out sail just over his outstretched glove to give Cleveland's David Fry the walkoff single. 

    Sometimes it's just not your night, and it wasn't Atlanta's tonight. 

    What's next for the Atlanta Braves? 

    The Braves look to seal their tenth straight series victory with a win in Wednesday's game three. The rubber match is scheduled for a 7:10 PM ET first pitch, with Atlanta's Michael Soroka set to take on Cal Quantrill. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports South and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

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    Ozzie AlbiesKolby Allard

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