Takeaways: Atlanta drops Thursday afternoon's game four to the Pirates, 7-5

This entire series was a surprisingly close affair, full of lead changes and lots of scoring

Atlanta dropped the series finale with Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5 on Thursday afternoon, officially splitting the series. What can we take away from the contest? 

Bryce Elder has another rough outing

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The Braves righty went five full innings plus two batters, but allowed five runs on six hits, walking two and striking out five, officially taking the loss to settle at 8-4. 

As we discussed in the preview, his last five starts have either been very good or very poor, with no in-between. This one was at least a bit longer than some of his other post-ASB starts, much-needed length on a day when the bullpen desperately needed some rest, but ultimately not enough. 

Elder's early-season luck seems to be disappearing - he consistently was out-performing his peripherals earlier in the season, but his FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) has risen closer to his ERA as his groundball rate continues to drop. A lot of that comes from the lessened effectiveness of his sinker -the pitch's movement profile is roughly the same as it was earlier in the season, but opposing hitters are much less willing to chase it and are waiting (and pounding) the slider instead. 

Matt Olson is continuing his absurd slugging season

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If you gave Matt Olson some truth serum, he'd probably admit that he wasn't happy with the way his 2022 went. A full-season career-low batting average of .240 with "only" 34 home runs and a whopping 170 strikeouts is not the way he wanted to make an impression on the city of Atlanta. 

Well, he's fixed that. 

Olson went 2-5 today, hitting his 40th home run of the season to tie Shohei Ohtani for the MLB lead, while also leading all of baseball in RBIs with 101. 

40 homers for @mattolson21 🔥#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/yc16TaMEAM

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 10, 2023

39 home runs was his previous career high, set in 2019 in Oakland. Ever since being moved to the #4 spot in the order, Olson has batted .338/.437/.799 and has racked up RBIs at a rate of more than one a game. 

Orlando Arcia and Michael Harris II continue to dominate from the bottom of the order

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We talk about having the luxury of two catchers that aren't offensively and defensively interchangeable in your lineup, and what Orlando Arcia and Michael Harris II are able to do in your lineup is a similar luxury. 

For the series, the pair went 18-33 with 6 extra base hits (including two home runs, both from Arcia), 8 runs scored, 5 RBIs, and two stolen bases (both from Harris). 

There's no way for opposing pitchers to have a break and/or an "easy" out when the pair are raking from the bottom of the lineup, and their timely hitting kept Atlanta in this series in all four games. 

On the season, Arcia's brought his slash line to .301/.357/.472, while Harris is at .292/.339/.468, combining for 24 home runs and 98 runs scored. 

Atlanta's bullpen needs a break

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The Braves relievers earned their paychecks this week. 

Over the four games in Pittsburgh, the bullpen covered 18.1 innings, owing to short outings by both Spencer Strider and Max Fried. Every reliever pitched at least twice in the series except Michael Tonkin, who threw 44 pitches in game one and then got up but did not go in today's game. Raisel Iglesias threw three consecutive days, covering three full innings on 61 pitches. 

With a doubleheader on the schedule for this weekend in New York, look for Atlanta to find some way to bring in a fresh reliever for the rest of the road trip, either through optioning someone down to the minors or putting an overworked reliever on the IL to give their sore shoulders/arms time to rest.  

What's next for the Atlanta Braves?

The Braves head to New York for a four game series starting tomorrow against the division-rival Mets. Friday night's game one is scheduled for 7:10 PM ET, with RHP Charlie Morton for Atlanta squaring off with New York's Tylor Megill. The game broadcast will be available on Bally sports Southeast. 

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