Atlanta Braves Drop Series Finale To Milwaukee Brewers

Huascar Ynoa and Freddy Peralta toed the rubber on Sunday for the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers as the Braves looked to complete a three-game sweep and get back to .500 on the season.

In a game that looked like it was going to be a laugher for the Brewers after 6 innings, the Atlanta Braves clawed their way back from an eight-nothing deficit to pull within a single run with a seven-run seventh inning.

The Braves were able to do so because of a couple of walks, some shady Brewers middle infield defense, and a Freddie Freeman grand slam.

After Josh Tomlin and Sean Newcomb combined to allow Milwaukee to extend the lead to10-7 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Braves would again threaten in the eighth.

More miscues from the usually reliable Milwaukee infield led to the Braves having runners on second and third with one out against standout Brewers reliever, Devin Williams.

Williams would recover to strike out Ronald Acuna, Jr. and Ehire Adrianza to end the threat and send the Brewers to the ninth nursing a two-run lead.

The Braves were able to put some pressure on Josh Hader in the ninth.  After a Freeman walk and an Ozuna strikeout, Ozzie Albies singled to right moving Freeman along to third.

Dansby Swanson hit a sacrifice fly scoring Freddie and making the score ten to nine, but that cost the Braves a precious second out.

Austin Riley came up with the game in the balance and a very fast runner at first.  Riley continued to show his evolving maturation at the plate, taking close pitches and shooting tough fastballs the other way before singling into left and moving Ozzie into scoring position.

Braves rookie catcher, William Contreras had the next chance to be the hero. But Hader was having none of it.  The Brewers closer proceeded to throw three straight breaking balls and strike out an overmatched Contreras, ending the contest and giving the Brewers a hard-fought 10-9 win.

The Atlanta Braves offense showed a lot of heart today, and even in defeat resembled Braves teams of the past few seasons.

There were things to like and dislike about this game.

Huascar Ynoa wasn’t sharp today, but that will happen from time to time.  The Braves bullpen was not able to pick Ynoa up and continued to struggle mightily as a unit.

One counterpoint:  Luke Jackson threw the cleanest and most effective inning today.  When could we ever say that in the past three years?

The Braves also gift-wrapped a couple of runs for the Brewers allowing Milwaukee to score on both a passed ball and a wild pitch in the sixth.

On a positive note, the Braves were able to go on the road and win a series in which Ronald Acuna, Jr. only got one at-bat.  Even without Acuna, the Braves offense struck for twenty runs in the three-game set.

Freddie Freeman once again looks like the hitter that won the 2020 MVP award and Austin Riley continues to show real strides at the plate as he continues to draw more walks and use all parts of the field on a more consistent basis.

The return of both Guillermo Heredia and Ender Inciarte will also give this lineup more depth moving forward.  As good as Christian Pache is defensively, having him in the lineup is like having a second pitcher in there at this point in his career.

The Braves will head home for a seven-game homestand looking to find some consistency, as their 2021 season has been a roller coaster.  In the first forty games of the season, the Braves have had losing streaks of 4 games twice and 3 games twice.

They have also had winning streaks of 4 games once and 3 games twice.

The Braves will welcome the first-place Mets to Truist Park on Monday to begin a three-game series.  This will be the first meeting between the NL East rivals this season as the Braves look to close the gap on New York in the NL East standings.