Blewett Stretched Too Far, Braves Bullpen Melts Down in Loss to St. Louis

ATLANTA — The Braves didn’t just lose a game Tuesday night. They lost a grip on a winnable matchup because of poor roster construction and a mismanaged bullpen game that never should’ve been this fragile in the first place.

Atlanta blew a 4-2 lead and gave up eight unanswered runs in a 10-4 loss to the Cardinals at Truist Park. It snapped their four-game win streak and exposed the same issue that’s been bubbling under the surface all month: this bullpen is not built to last.

Let’s get one thing straight: Brian Snitker didn’t have a lot to work with. But he didn’t help himself either.

Opener Scott Blewett—acquired just four days ago—was allowed to face the lineup twice. That’s a sin in a bullpen game. Reliever openers aren’t starters. You don’t let them go through the order more than once. Blewett got through two clean innings. Then he faced his ninth batter. After that, the wheels started wobbling. Single. Homer. Walk. Still no one warming.

Blewett’s job was to eat up six to nine outs, max. He wasn’t supposed to stretch into the fourth inning. And when he did, the game started bleeding out.

But here’s the thing: this isn’t about Blewett, and it’s not even really about Snitker. This is about a front office that thought duct tape and waiver claims could get them through the season.

Rafael Montero, Enyel De Los Santos, Nathan Wiles—all guys picked up for basically nothing. All on the mound Tuesday. All part of the meltdown. The bullpen gave up 10 runs on 12 hits and issued seven walks. Montero couldn’t find the zone. De Los Santos gave up the backbreaker: a bases-clearing double to Nolan Gorman in the eighth. Wiles made his MLB debut in a 7-4 game and gave up three more.

Meanwhile, A.J. Minter is gone. Tyler Matzek is gone. The core of what made this bullpen elite in 2021 and 2022? Let go. Replaced with bargain-bin arms.

That’s not how you win in October. That’s not even how you win in April.

And yes, the offense did enough to take this game. Sean Murphy homered. Matt Olson added another. Riley beat out two infield hits and kept pressure on all night. Marcell Ozuna walked four times. The team led 4-2 after five.

Then the bullpen fell apart. Again.

This can’t be the plan. It can’t be: hope Strider gets healthy, hope Elder figures it out, hope the offense out-slugs your own bullpen’s issues every night. That’s not a strategy. That’s desperation.

Speaking of Elder—he gets the ball this afternoon in the rubber match. But the real silver lining is Miles Mikolas. The struggling righty starts for St. Louis this afternoon. Mikolas enters the game 0-2 with a 7.64 ERA and just 11 strikeouts across 17.2 innings. If there’s a chance to salvage the series, this is it.

Of course, that chance gets tougher when Michael Harris II is leading off again, which makes no sense. Harris has struggled in that spot, posting weak OBP numbers and often looking over-aggressive at the plate. This lineup needs traffic in front of Riley, Ozuna, and Olson—not quick outs. Harris belongs further down the order, where his swing-first approach can still create impact without killing early momentum.

It’s all part of the same theme: mismanagement. Not just in-game, but structurally. Lineup decisions that don’t match the numbers. Bullpen arms that don’t belong in high-leverage innings. And a front office that keeps looking for budget solutions to premium problems.

To be clear, the Braves are still a good team. The top half of this lineup can carry you. The rotation—when healthy—can hang with anyone. But this isn’t a championship bullpen. Not yet. And if the front office doesn’t start acting like a contender, they’re going to keep losing games like this one. Games they had in hand.

You can’t build a championship team on the cheap. Not anymore.