Facing Erasmo Ramirez and the Tampa Bay Rays, the Braves' bats chose to take a night off: six hits on the night, 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position, and no walks. Adonis Garcia and Nick Markakis combined for four of he team's six hits (two hits each). Ramirez pitched seven innings of shutout baseball, with just five hits and four strikeouts. Williams Perez went eight innings, allowing just four hits and two earned runs. Despite his solid outing, a dormant offense landed Perez his third loss of the year.
When a team is scuffling through the heat of the summer, it takes a little extra motivation to stay focused, and to go out there and win some games.