Braves lose 4-3 late in the battle of the debuts

Austin Riley’s record-tying homer wasn’t enough, as Sal Frelick’s massive game boosted Milwaukee to victory.

With an unestablished but uninspiring starter for Atlanta in Winans and an established but still uninspiring option on the mound for the Brewers, this seemed like a game that might have some runs in it.

Each pitcher started off pretty well through the first two innings, however, with no runs scoring and a lack of any real high quality contact. Ronald and Ozzie reached with a single and a walk, respectively, before Austin Riley tied the franchise record, hitting a homer in his fifth straight game to give the Braves an early three run lead in the third.

The game stayed pretty quiet for the next two innings after that, as Winans continued to look pretty effective and Houser struck out more batters than he typically does. The Brewers finally got to Winans in the fifth, however, aided by some BABIP luck, as they chased him with only one out in the inning as Tonkin came in to relieve him. Milwaukee scored two on a single, double, sac fly, and a single.

The debuting Sal Frelick made two stellar defensive plays, robbing both Marcell Ozuna and Orlando Arcia of likely extra base hits in the sixth, assisting a 1-2-3 inning to hold the Braves at three runs, keeping the lead at one.

Frelick continued a monster debut in the bottom of the inning, tying the game for Milwaukee with a ground ball single. After another 1-2-3 inning from the Braves’ offense, Willy Adames led off the bottom eighth with a double. Adames advanced to third on a fielder’s choice that Arcia threw to Austin at third to beat the runner, but Austin was unable to handle the throw. Frelick again came through for Milwaukee with a low driven sac fly to Acuna, who nearly threw out Adames at home.

Eddie Rosario gave the Braves a baserunner in the ninth with one out and gave way for Forrest Wall to pinch run. Wall stole second on the first pitch from Devin Williams and stole third on the second pitch. Orlando Arcia struck out out for the second out, but Michael Harris walked, setting up Devin Williams vs Ronald Acuna with the Braves down one run and runners on the corners. Acuna followed Harris with a walk, loading the bases for Albies from the left side with two outs and Atlanta needing a run to stay alive. Ozzie quickly went down 0-2 and just barely fouled off a nasty changeup below the zone to stay alive. Williams spiked a changeup and William Contreras did a nice job to just keep it close enough to hold Wall at third. Williams finally got Ozzie to swing and miss, ending the game and tying the series.

Join us for the rubbermatch in Milwaukee tomorrow at 2:10 PM ET.