3 biggest warning signs from Braves sweep at hands of Marlins

The Atlanta Braves currently hold a record of 96-53, the best in MLB. This past weekend's series, however, did not go as planned against an NL East rival.

After getting swept by the Miami Marlins, this club is starting to show warning signs for this upcoming postseason. With the best record in baseball, they are a franchise with hopes of capturing its second World Series win in the last three years.

However, these three Braves warning signs from the sweep at the hands of the Marlins are concerning enough to make some fans question their ability to contend.

Braves warning sign from Marlins sweep, No. 3: Pitching collapse

In the first game of the three-part series, Bryce Elder gave up four earned runs in five innings while yielding nine hits. They replaced him with Pierce Johnson, who pitched 1.2 innings, giving up a hit and a walk before getting replaced by Brad Hand, who gave up three hits and a walk, combining for four earned runs. Joe Jimenez closed up the game, recording two strikeouts.

In the second game, the Braves went on to give up 11 runs to the Marlins. Jared Shuster started this game but struggled, giving up six hits, two of which were home runs, and two walks, combining for five runs, four of which were earned. Jackson Stephens replaced Shuster and threw three shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks. He was replaced by A.J. Minter, who threw a shutout inning with a walk and three strikeouts.

Kirby Yates was put in to keep the game tied but collapsed. He pitched two-thirds of an inning while giving up two hits and two walks, including giving up a home run to Jake Burger, combining for four earned runs. After Michael Tonkin came into the game, he gave up a walk and then a grand slam to Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Charlie Morton was the starting pitcher for the third game of the series but completely collapsed, giving up six earned runs on six hits and five walks in just 4.2 innings. Dereck Rodríguez came in and did much worse than Morton, pitching just two innings and giving up eight earned runs on seven hits and three walks. They knew they couldn't come back and had infielder Nicky Lopez finish up the game.

In the series, the Braves had 12 unique pitchers who combined for 24 total innings pitched. In those 24 innings, they gave up 43 hits while also walking 19 hitters. They combined for 24 strikeouts while giving up 35 earned runs, along with one unearned run. If they want to compete in the playoffs, they need to figure things out soon with their pitching, because these results will lead to an early exit.