Tommy Milone couldn’t get out of the fourth inning with 13 runs of support

Tommy Milone hates run support more than kids hate eating vegetables.

Does Tommy Milone want to get designated for assignment as soon as this game ends?

Yeah, so that whole getting a starting pitcher via trade who wasn’t atrocious has gone over oh so horribly for the Atlanta Braves. Though they lead the NL East and are outslugging all of their opponents, you just cannot believe what Milone did on the mound Wednesday night. If we could put this behind a paywall, we would. Go hide your children because we must protect the young.

Milone made his third start with Atlanta vs. the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. Despite having 13 runs of support, including a Spinal Tap 11 on the board in the bottom of the second inning, the crappy crafty left-hander made it 3.1 innings, allowing eight runs on eight hits, walking two, striking out four and giving up two big flies. I’ll let David O’Brien show you what his Braves ERA is.

The Atlanta Braves must score runs every other at-bat to keep winning games.

Atlanta should win the National League East for the third year in a row. The New York Mets and the Washington Nationals are non-factors in this 60-game, coronavirus-shortened MLB season. Though the Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies could definitely be playoff teams, they’re not as good as Atlanta is offensively, defensively and out of the bullpen. But that rotation is so gross.

With Max Fried going on IL and Ian Anderson struggling the other day, there is no reason whatsoever to have any faith in the Braves winning because of their starting rotation this season. In a year or so, maybe the Braves can lean on Anderson, Fried and Mike Soroka as a pretty tasty trio. For now, it has to be a barn-burner of a shootout for Atlanta to win big this fall.

If the bats go silent, the Braves are screwed. I mean, how do you get 13 runs of support and you can’t even factor into the decision? NFL teams with elite defenses like the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills can win games when the offense only gets them 13 points. We’re talking about 13 runs in four innings. And Atlanta didn’t stop scoring after Milone was unceremoniously yanked.

Though five innings, the Braves scored 22 runs. Freddie Freeman knocked in career hit 1,500 and had six runs batted in before the end of the fifth inning. Every player who started for the Braves had at least one hit before the end of the fifth inning and scored at least one run. I have been a Braves fan for 31 years and I have never seen a game quite like this. This is beyond wild.

Though the offense is prolific, Milone was spectacularly unspectacular in his third Atlanta start.