Brewers fall 4-3 to Braves in Arcia's Miller Park debut
MILWAUKEE -- A pair of mistakes was all it took for Zach Davies to have his three-start winning streak snapped by the Atlanta Braves.
The right-hander continued to pitch well but surrendered solo home runs to Nick Markakis and A.J. Pierzynski. Davies allowed three runs over seven innings and earned a no decision in the Milwaukee Brewers' 4-3 loss in 12 innings to Atlanta on Monday night.
"The 0-2 (pitch) to Markakis wasn't high enough or in enough for 0-2," Davies said. "It was a good pitch but not for that count. The one to Pierzynski was a good pitch but he's a strong enough guy that if he sits on it, it's out.
"Frustrated a little bit with my outing but at the same time, I can take some positives from it."
Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman hit a one-out double off Davies in the fourth inning. The Brewers had a chance to nab Freeman at second, but the Braves first baseman was able to avoid second baseman Scooter Gennett's tag and dived back safely after oversliding the bag.
Braves left fielder Matt Kemp followed with a single that just sneaked past Brewers first baseman Chris Carter and scored Freeman.
"I think this past week we've beat a couple of good pitchers," Kemp said. "Collectively as a group, I think we've all put good at-bats on these guys, got our pitches, stuck to the plan and waited them out to get big hits when we needed them."
Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth inning with a two-run homer off starter Rob Whalen, who gave up three runs over six innings in his second career start.
Milwaukee was unable to score over six innings against Atlanta's bullpen. The Brewers' relief corps had tossed four scoreless innings before the Braves got to Carlos Torres (2-2) in his third inning of work.
Kemp drew a walk off Torres to start the 12th and went to third on a ground-rule double to right-center by Nick Markakis. An intentional walk to Adonis Garcia loaded the bases with nobody out.
Keon Broxton then dropped a drive to deep center off the bat of Gordon Beckham, and Kemp scored the go-ahead run. An error was given to Broxton, but Beckham was awarded a sacrifice fly and an RBI.
"(Torres) was at 19 pitches after two innings and throwing the ball really well," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "Kemp had a good at-bat against him. We pushed Carlos there, certainly, but we were in the 12th and he was pitching very well so we went with him."
Brewers reliever Blaine Boyer came on to work out of the bases-loaded jam with no further damage.
Milwaukee put the tying run in scoring position in the 12th, but Braves closer Jim Johnson struck out Maldonado and got Ramon Flores to ground out to shortstop to end the game.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Brewers: RHP Junior Guerra will be placed on the 15-day disabled list in the near future with right elbow soreness. RHP Wily Peralta will be recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs to take Guerra's scheduled start Tuesday. ... OF Domingo Santana (right elbow soreness) went 0 for 4 in his first game of a rehab assignment with Class A Wisconsin.
UP NEXT
Braves: RHP Tyrell Jenkins (1-2, 4.33 ERA) will make his sixth career start when he faces the Brewers on Tuesday. The rookie has allowed just one earned run over 12 innings in his last two starts.
Brewers: Peralta (4-7, 6.68 ERA) will be making his first start in the major leagues since June 11. Milwaukee's Opening Day starter had just two quality starts in 13 outings before being sent to Triple-A.
