CHICAGO — With a chance Wednesday to clinch a spot in the National League playoffs, the Braves sent rookie right-hander JR Ritchie to the mound at Wrigley Field — and it did not go well.
Ritchie gave up six runs on seven hits, including two solo homers, and didn’t make it past the fifth inning in an 8-4 Braves loss. The defeat shrank the NL East division lead to 4½ games because the Phillies beat the Nationals. The magic number to win the division remains at five.
“At the end of the day, the end goal for this team is to win ballgames, and my job is to go out there and put the team in position to win ballgames,” Ritchie said. “I hope I get one more crack at it, to do that, during the regular season. Just want to help this team win.”
The Braves also had a chance Wednesday to clinch a postseason berth with a win and a Diamondbacks or a Padres loss, but hopes of that scenario coming together went out the window pretty quickly. They now have to wait to pop Champagne until at least Friday, when they’ll need to beat the Astros.
A division title isn’t possible until Saturday.
“We had a nice come-from-behind win (Tuesday) — I don’t know what to make of it. Lost the series, never like to do that,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “But they’re a good team. Playing a lot of good teams right now. Move on to Houston.”
Ritchie, making his ninth start for the Braves this season, walked two batters in the first inning Wednesday. The first was wiped out by a double play, but the second came around to score on Alex Bregman’s two-out double to the gap in right field.
The Cubs (85-68) went up 2-0 in the third inning on a solo homer from Pete Crow-Armstrong, his 43rd of the season and a Cubs record for left-handed hitters. Bregman, who went 3-for-4 with four runs driven in, made it 3-0 in the fourth with a leadoff homer to left.
Crow-Armstrong’s RBI triple into the corner in right field made it a 4-0 game in the fifth. Then Ritchie pegged Seiya Suzuki with a fastball in the left arm. Then, with two outs, Bregman ripped a ball down the left field line that got away from Mauricio Dubón for a two-run triple.
That was the end for Ritchie (1-3), who left after 4⅔ innings and 82 pitches. Of the 14 balls put in play against the 23-year-old, eight came off the bat at more than 96 mph.
Credit: AP Photo/Melissa Tamez
Credit: AP Photo/Melissa Tamez
“They hit some good pitches, they hit some bad pitches, some wrong pitches that I threw in there,” Ritchie said. “I feel like after that first inning I settled in a little bit, hit the strike zone, did what I wanted to do. They put some balls down on the grass today.
“I think a lot of it is just how thin the margin of error is. Sometimes just a couple inches on the pitch location can do it. Maybe just one pitch here and there. Pitch selection would be a big one for me. I think it just shows the importance of getting ahead. Against a team like this, like they don’t strike out a whole ton, and they’re pretty patient. I think the biggest thing is just getting ahead and trying to force them to swing.”
The Braves (89-64) avoided being shut out in the top of the sixth thanks to a leadoff double from Ronald Acuña Jr. Acuña went to third on a groundout to second and scored on Matt Olson’s check-swing chopper to the right of the mound.
Cubs starter Shota Imanaga (11-10) struck out eight in six innings and allowed just the one run on four hits.
After Imanaga departed, the Braves got to reliever Aaron Civale for a run in the seventh. Dubón tripled into the right field corner and scored on Austin Riley’s groundout to shortstop.
Crow-Armstrong hit his second homer of the game in the seventh, a leadoff shot off Braves right-hander Owen Murphy. Crow-Armstrong went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a walk, strengthening his case for NL MVP.
Murphy also gave up an RBI single to Michael Conforto in the eighth.
Dubón’s RBI double in the ninth and Sean Murphy’s RBI groundout were the last little whimper of offense from the Braves for the night.
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