Blair gets knocked around in return to Braves

SAN FRANCISCO — Instead of providing an indication that the past two months have been beneficial, Aaron Blair returned to the Major League level and simply extended the frustrating stretch that led the Braves to demote him to Triple-A Gwinnett near the end of June.

Blair certainly did not have any reason to be encouraged after he allowed three home runs and completed just four innings during Sunday’s 13-4 loss to the Giants at AT&T Park. His shaky return enhanced doubts about the promising future he seemingly had when he entered this season as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects.

“I had my name on the map early,” Blair said. “I kind of faltered during the middle months. I’m trying to get my name back on that map again.”

Blair has completed fewer than five innings in six of his past nine starts and compiled an 8.32 ERA over the 12 starts he’s made dating back to his April 24 big league debut. But while the results have been ugly, the opportunity remains for the 24-year-old rookie to spend this season’s final month proving whether he should be considered a key part of the Braves’ future or simply one of those highly touted prospects who ultimately don’t live up to …

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