HOUSTON — (AP) — — Atlanta had just stumbled again, losing its seventh straight attempt to reach .500.
“This isn’t going to define our season, this series,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said that night at Citi Field in New York.
Little did he know.
Two days later, general manager Alex Anthopoulos obtained outfielders Eddie Rosario, Adam Duvall and Jorge Soler along with reliever Richard Rodríguez in four swaps in the hours before the July 30 trade deadline, adding to the acquisition of outfielder Joc Pederson two weeks earlier.
“If you go get three and then one of those guys gets hurt, you’re in the same boat and then you have the months of August and September and can’t go get anybody else,” Anthopoulos said Monday.