Kyle Wright showed electrical stuff in his first two innings against the Rays on Tuesday, but the second trip through the order proved dangerous for the young right-hander. The Rays scored five runs in the third inning, all charged to Wright, leading to an early departure for another Braves starter. The Braves would lose the game 5-2, falling back to below .500 in the young season at 2-3.
Despite all expectations surrounding Kyle Wright and his season debut, the right-hander did it very quickly. Wright fired six consecutive punches to start the game, striking out each of the Rays’ first two hitters, and seemed confident in his arsenal. That confidence seemed to fade in the third inning when Wright lost control of his entire repertoire.
The upper half of the third saw the Braves scratch in the first run of the game, as Marcell Ozuna lined a RBI single to left field. The inning began in hopes of much more, as Atlanta loaded the bases with no outs before consecutive strikeouts by Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman. They would then leave the bases loaded when Matt Adam came out to finish the inning, which would be costly immediately thereafter.
An initial walk to Kevin Kiermaier in the third inning immediately placed Wright in hot water, although he managed to withdraw the next two batters via flyout and strikeout. They followed consecutive walks, which loaded the bases for Rays left fielder Yoshi Tsutsugo, who lined a two-run single to right field to give the Rays a 2-1 lead. A single by Jose Martinez added a third run, then a single by Joey Wendle added a fourth run to give the Rays a 4-1 lead and end the night for Kyle Wright. Josh Tomlin entered with the runners in first and third, then quickly uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Martinez to score a fifth run in the inning.
This rally put out any fires the Braves’ offense had started in the top half, along with the momentum Kyle Wright had apparently built up in his first two innings. The contact against the right-handed pitcher was pretty silly, but walking three batters in one inning essentially erased anything positive that might have been gleaned from the outlet.
On a positive note, the Braves’ bullpen performed exceptionally in relief from Wright (aside from Tomlin’s wild tone). They released 5one⁄3 scoreless entries despite the huge workload they have already taken on this week. Tuesday marked the third consecutive game in which a Braves starter was unable to complete four innings, which obviously does nothing to calm the sense of concern regarding the advancement of the staff. Mike Foltynewicz’s appointment was an unexpected low from the start, but hope abounded with Kyle Wright before his unraveling on Tuesday. Hopefully the right can replicate his performance of the first two innings for the entirety of his next start.
Atlanta will need to find some consistent starting pitchers if they hope to compete this season, though early returns have been anything but encouraging. The club will turn to ace Mike Soroka on Wednesday as they seek to regain the form that saw them perform so well in New York over the weekend.
