TORONTO — Soon after Spencer Strider exited the game — his first in over a year — he briefly talked with manager Brian Snitker. In a short exchange, Snitker more or less told Strider that he pitched well, and it was a shame he was not in line for the win, with the Braves trailing at the time.

“Well, we need W’s,” Strider responded, according to Snitker.

“”Yeah, we do,” Snitker said. “But you know what, I’m looking for positives, too.”

This perfectly captures Strider’s feeling about his return to a big league mound. For the first time since April 5, 2024, Strider started a major-league game that counted. This was somewhat of a special occasion — to everyone except Strider.

“I don’t think I went into the start feeling some special novelty to it in any way,” Strider said after the game. “This is my job: to work to be able to go on the field and put my team in a position to win games.”

And this is why Strider spent most of his postgame session with media lamenting the fact that he put the Braves in an early hole by giving up the first run of the game. Did he pitch well? Yes. Was his season debut a success? Yes. But to know Strider is to understand he’s a competitor and places winning above everything.

So, no, this was not some heartwarming day for him. He was not going to go into all of the emotions he felt as if this were all about him.

He wanted to win, and the Braves lost to the Blue Jays, 3-1, at Rogers Centre. The Braves’ offense matched a dubious historical mark — more soon — that overshadowed Strider’s solid start.

But if you know Strider, you know this: He controls what he can, and he felt he was not good enough. So this was not some feel-good return story, even if he allowed only two runs over five innings in a successful return from the internal brace procedure.

“I don’t know that I put any different emphasis on this start to any other start,” Strider said. “The job here is to win games. I try to keep a long-term perspective and obviously want to get better every start and certainly over long periods of the time, as the season gets deeper. But yeah, it just hasn’t been clicking yet (for the team), so we need good things to go our way, and we need to put ourselves in good positions early in games, and falling behind is a tough one. You can look at the outing and say, ‘If we had jumped out in front early,’ and stuff and look at it differently, maybe, but to me, I think you gotta pitch to the situation. My job isn’t to come back and have a moment and all that. That’s not how I look at it. I’m here to help the team, and if I can’t do that, I don’t need to be here, just like anyone else.”

To this point in the season, the Braves’ offense has been terrible. On Wednesday, it was so horrific that it overshadowed the return of a guy who hadn’t pitched in over a year.

The Braves tied a modern-era franchise record (since 1901) by striking out 19 times in this nine-inning game. The Blue Jays, on the other hand, set a franchise record for a nine-inning game with their 19 strikeouts of Atlanta.

This marked the third time a Braves offense had struck out 19 times in a nine-inning affair. The others were Aug. 7, 2022, against the Mets in New York, and July 27, 2020, at Tampa Bay.

If you include all games — even those that went to extra innings — the Braves had punched out 19 times or more in only 15 games, since 1901, before Wednesday. The overall record is 26 strikeouts, which came in a 14-inning game against the Mets in 2019.

Matt Olson, raised in metro Atlanta, grew up a die-hard Braves fan. He saw all the success, all the stars, all the terrific teams. He knows the history. He understands what it all means. He’s proud of it and proud to carry it on.

So, to be on the team that tied a terrible mark?

“Yeah, you don’t want to be a part of that,” Olson said. “We’re going to be able to flush it as best as we can, but like I said, it can’t happen. We gotta play better. There’s no secret to that. Sure, we got a lot of games left, but we can’t do this ... forever. We gotta find a way to start playing better baseball all the way around.”

This is as blunt as Olson has ever been in his time with the Braves, which dates to 2022. He didn’t raise his voice. But he was mad. You could tell. And how could you blame him? It was a brutal performance that would embarrass any team with championship aspirations.

The Braves are 5-13. They went 2-4 on this road trip, losing both series after taking two of three from the Phillies at home. Their offense is, for the most part, to blame.

On Wednesday, it began with Chris Bassitt — Olson’s former teammate in Oakland — striking out 10 Braves over five scoreless innings. It continued with nine more strikeouts over the final four frames. The lone run came on Drake Baldwin’s first career homer — a solo shot to left field off Jeff Hoffman in the ninth.

What needs to change or improve?

“Yeah, I don’t know — that’s a good question,” Olson said. “We can’t play games like that. It’s terrible. Just nothing all day. What was it, 19, 20 strikeouts? Can’t happen. I know Bassitt better than anybody. He’s a good pitcher. But we can’t do that and expect to win. Strider came out and threw well and got nothing. So we gotta be better.”

Added Snitker: “I think, individually, we all have to make adjustments. Yeah, I don’t know. We’re not gonna replace them — I mean, there’s nobody to go out and get. Internally, we’re gonna have to do it, and we’re gonna have to make it happen. Like I say, we’re better than that — yeah, obviously. But we’re not until we are, if that makes any sense.”

The quote above is what Snitker said when asked the question about what needed to change. But even before that, a reporter asked him if he had any explanation for the swing and miss in the game.

His answer said everything.

“I have no idea,” Snitker said. “I don’t know. There was a lot of it, I know that. I don’t have an answer for it.”

At this point, what is he supposed to say? A modern-day manager’s job, in addition to the baseball duties, is to act as a spokesperson for the team. But Snitker isn’t coaching the hitters or taking the at-bats. Truth is, while everyone is accountable for the team’s results, the Braves have talented players who aren’t performing to the best of their abilities.

In the next month, they should get Ronald Acuña Jr. back. Marcell Ozuna (hip inflammation) continues to receive treatment and isn’t yet on the injured list. The lineup will improve with those two additions. But there’s still enough talent there to get the job done — especially against teams like the Rays and Blue Jays, who don’t appear to be world-beaters by any stretch.

“We have the team to win. We have the talent,” Olson said. “Sure, getting Ronald back will be great, hopefully (Ozuna) is coming back here soon, and nice to see Strider on the mound again. Yeah, we got the talent. Just gotta go out and execute.”

For his first time back, Strider threw well. He struggled with command at times, especially with his off-speed pitches. One area he pointed to that ended up costing him: execution with two strikes.

A good example came in the sixth inning, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered off Strider. The righty had gotten ahead 0-2, then threw three balls. Then, Guerrero fouled off the pitch after that. Then, he homered.

With two strikes, Strider threw five pitches and couldn’t get Guerrero out.

“I got ahead 0-2 with two sliders that were really well-executed and just never made the two-strike pitch that I needed to,” Strider said. “I think, what is that, there were five two-strike pitches in that at-bat? 0-for-5 in one at-bat is not good, so start adding that up across a whole outing, and you’ve got a lot of uncompetitive and poorly executed two-strike pitches. I’m going to get ahead, and I want to throw strikes, and I want to make guys swing, and I felt like I was doing that, and so to not execute in those situations that I want to be in is frustrating. And it’s essential to my success and the team’s success, so I’ve gotta do a better job of that next time.”

In the third inning, Toronto took a 1-0 lead when Guerrero singled home Bo Bichette. Three innings later, Guerrero homered. Then again, the first run would’ve been enough. These days, it often doesn’t seem to matter whether the Lord himself is pitching for the Braves. The offense has to show up more often.

Yes, the Braves have played only 18 of their 162 games. Yes, their roster will soon get a boost when they get Acuña back.

But the truth is this: At this moment, they’re eight games under .500 — their worst mark of the season. They’re in last place in the National League East.

They’re left balancing two ends of the spectrum: recognizing baseball is a long season but acknowledging they must show urgency and not write off this poor start as a fluke.

“I think it’s just the difference between process and outcome-oriented,” Strider said. “If you’re outcome-oriented, of course when your record is poor or even you have a bad game, the pendulum of emotion will swing quite far in one direction. And then a win or a good game can do the opposite. You really don’t want to be in either camp there. You want to try and live in the middle where you’re objective and rational and understand how the process is leading to those outcomes, whether they’re desirable or not.

“Over the long run — 162 games — I think we’ll take our chances with us doing things the way we believe in and the way we know we need to, where we’re convicted behind our actions, on and off the field, and we’re competitive for 27 outs. That’s all you can control. I think we need to do a better job of that, myself included. We’re not in a great position at the moment, and that’s fine. It’s early, still, in the season. If people want to doubt us, that’s great. Bring it on. If we’re gonna lose every game for the rest of the season, we’re gonna do it the right way, and we’re gonna do it grinding it out. That much, I can guarantee you.”

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