ATLANTA _ On a night Sean Newcomb pitched his best start of the season, the Braves offense couldn't solve an old foe or the opposing bullpen.
Blue Jays lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu, formerly of the Dodgers, allowed one hit over five scoreless innings. What transformed into battle of the bullpens resulted in a 2-1 Toronto win at Truist Park.
The Braves entered the night leading MLB in runs scored (69). Yet they generated only one run Wednesday, a 402-foot Adam Duvall homer. They had three hits overall, two from Duvall and one from Travis d'Arnaud.
Their struggles started with Ryu, who's long been a thorn in the Braves' side. Ryu pitched a memorable seven scoreless innings against the Braves in Game 1 of the 2018 NLDS. He also tossed a four-hit shutout against the them last May at Dodger Stadium. He entered Friday with a career 2.73 ERA against the team in five starts.
"The cutter, change, he locates really well," manager Brian Snitker said. "He has great command. It's hard to get ahold of him."
Newcomb added: "He's always mixing in and out. That cutter and change-up are real effective. He'll bring up 90, 91 (mph) heater to the top of the zone. I'm sure it looks a lot harder than that. When he's in the zone with his off-speed, like any other good pitcher, he's usually on."
To Newcomb's credit, he kept pace with Ryu. Newcomb pitched 4-2/3 innings, allowing two runs. The first run came after allowing a pair of hits in the second, including a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. double, that positioned Danny Jansen for a sacrifice fly.
Unfortunately for the Braves, the difference in the game slipped through Ender Inciarte's glove. Inciarte, a renowned defender, attempted a sliding catch with two out in the fifth but was unable to hang on to the ball. It was ruled a single for Bo Bichette, who'd steal second and score the eventual game-winning run on Cavan Biggio's two-strike single.
"He got a great job on the ball, just couldn't come up with it," Snitker said of Inciarte's almost-catch. "Probably nine times out of 10 he catches it."
Newcomb's night ended on a sour note, but Wednesday brought more positives than his previous outings. He did a better job working through tough situations. His pitch count still built up early, but he showed better command overall. The Braves will hope his latest start is a building block for what's to come.
"That was encouraging tonight for Newk," Snitker said. "A lot better than the first two. Hopefully he figured some things out. It was good. He kept us in the ballgame. It was really good. He was a strike away from getting out of the fifth twice. That was encouraging."
Newcomb relied heavily on his four-seamer, which induced 24 swings on 46 pitches. He also had 10 called strikes on the pitch. Learning how to keep his fastball in the zone is the most important element of Newcomb's growth. He did so in the bullpen last season but hasn't found the same consistency since returning to the rotation.
"The spin on (the four-seamer) is tremendous," d'Arnaud said. "The axis on it is practically vertical so it's very hard to get to even if it's right down the middle. Guys are fouling it off. It's one of those things where they were able to get the timely hits when they needed them."
