Takeaways: Braves are walked off by Blue Jays, get swept in Toronto

Atlanta held a lead late but got walked off by the Blue Jays in the ninth

Lindsay Crosby | May 14, 2023

The Atlanta Braves carried a slim lead late, but ultimately couldn't hold as they were walked off by the Blue Jays in the 9th inning to drop Sunday's matchup, 6-5, and cement a sweep for Toronto. What do we need to know from the contest?

Fielding was an adventure today

The Braves committed three errors today, and the wind was mostly to blame. It was a lovely day in Toronto, if you were a fan - sunny and 53 degrees, with the roof open, but the eleven mph winds at gametime were swirling and made every single pop-up into an absolute adventure to field.

Of Atlanta's three errors, all three of them were on fly balls - the first a popup in shallow right that took Ozzie Albies back and ultimately into a mild collision into Ronald Acuña Jr, the second a pop fly behind first base that the wind blew right off of Matt Olson's glove, and the third a flyball into the gap in left-center that brought Kevin Pillar into the path of Michael Harris II, with the ball landing between them for a Mat Chapman double.

The only positive on the errors were that none of them would have been the third out of the inning, and the Braves defense rallied in most situations. Yes, the 2nd inning error charged to Ozzie Albies meant that all three runs that scored against Collin McHugh went down as unearned runs, but Acuña threw out the batter at 2nd on the error charged to Olson and Matt Chapman was eventually stranded on 3rd after the Pillar error thanks to Kirby Yates inducing a pop out by Brandon Belt and a groundout by Danny Jansen.

The return of the long ball

Atlanta hit three home runs in the game, including a leadoff bomb by Ronald Acuña Jr, a two-run bomb by three-hole hitter Ozzie Albies in the 3rd, and a solo shot by former Blue Jay Kevin Pillar in the top of the 4th.

WATCH: Kevin Pillar CRUSHES a homerun against his former team to extend Atlanta's lead

Atlanta was also victimized by the long ball, as George Springer launched a ball in the fourth to bring the Toronto deficit to only one run. It looked like the Blue Jays would tie the game in the 9th, when leadoff hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr launched a 363-ft shot to right field, but it bounced off the top of the wall and, since he thought it was gone and therefore wasn't running, held Guerrero to a single.

The bullpen game worked, but is it sustainable?

Atlanta uses six pitchers to get through nine innings, with a good bit of Atlanta's bullpen getting extended run in the outing. Michael Tonkin carried the load, giving Atlanta 3.1 innings with three hits and only one run, the Springer solo shot.

McHugh's line looked better than it actually was, as we mentioned above: He officially went 1.2 innings with six hits and three runs, but none of the three (all in the 2nd inning) were earned.

But Raisel Iglesias was unable to hold the slim lead in the 9th, as Vlad Guerrero singled to get on, Matt Chapman walked, and Brandon Belt singled to bring Danny Jansen to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. A single through the left side was slow enough for Chapman, representing the winning run, to score from 2nd and cement the walk-off.

The bullpen game isn't to blame for the blown save - Iglesias hadn't pitched since Wednesday and only Chavez pitched on back to back days in the outing - but it definitely impacted bullpen decisions over the weekend. Today's bullpen game now leaves the Atlanta armbarn in a scenario where every pitcher has thrown at least 20 pitches in one of the last two days, with three more games left on the road trip.

What's next?

Atlanta heads to Arlington for a three-game set with the AL West-leading Texas Rangers. First pitch in Monday's game one is scheduled for 8:05 ET and 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.

More stories from the Blue Jays series

WATCH: Kevin Pillar CRUSHES a homerun against his former team to extend Atlanta's lead

WATCH: Ozzie Albies retakes the lead with a two-run blast

WATCH: Michael Harris extends the Braves lead to two with a two-out single

WATCH: Ronald Acuña Jr launches a home run to open Sunday's game

Lineup, how to watch the Braves series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays

Takeaways from Atlanta's Saturday loss to the Blue Jays

WATCH: The Braves take a 2-0 lead over the Blue Jays after a Marcell Ozuna two-run homer

Lineup, how to watch Atlanta's game two in Toronto against the Blue Jays

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