The Atlanta Braves found ways to defeat the visiting Milwaukee Brewers with their bullpen and on a walk-off home run on Friday and Saturday nights. On Sunday, Father’s Day, the Braves put Bryce Elder on the mound with several goals on the agenda: complete a sweep of the Brewers, extend their win streak after going 4-6 in the previous 10 games, and get Elder back on the winning side of things. In his last two starts, a loss in New York against the Mets and a no-decision at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Elder (5-4 overall, 3.15 ERA in 15 starts before Sunday) had not pitched his best.
He didn’t pitch his best on Sunday either, and Atlanta lost 9-4. Final score aside, it wasn’t Elder’s worst effort this season.
The Braves’ lineup was nearly at full strength on Sunday with Michael Harris II and Drake Baldwin hitting alongside last night’s hero, Ozzie Albies, Mauricio Dubon, and Matt Olson. Ronald Acuna, Jr., out of the lineup this weekend, has played in 53 of the 75 games this season.
Dubon opened the game with a double off Robert Gasser’s third pitch of the game. He used a blue Father’s Day-inspired bat that several players used during the game. Albies used the same kind of bat to drive in the first run of the game on a sac fly to right field a few batters later. The Braves had an opportunity to add to their 1-0 lead with Harris II at the plate, and Olson on first, but Harris II struck out to end the inning.
That lead didn’t last long, as Elder gave up a two-run double to Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick, a .230 hitter, putting Milwaukee up 2-1 in the second inning. That half-inning began with consecutive singles by William Contreras and Jake Bauers. The Brewers would end the inning ahead 8-1 after another run was driven in by David Hamilton on a double to deep center field, Jackson Chourio singled to the middle, and William Contreras got his second hit of the inning, a three-run home run. The inning would end with Elder having given up eight earned runs.
Following the eight-run second inning, there was no activity in the bullpen. With the Braves preparing for a week-long six-game road swing in San Diego and San Francisco, Elder was going to have to help save the bullpen today.
Harris II, a potential All-Star this season, started the fourth inning with a double down the right field line. Former Georgia Tech standout, catcher Joey Bart, drove him home with a slow groundout to short to make the score 8-2.
Through six innings, Elder (95 pitches) did not pitch poorly, if you exclude the second inning. Elder gave up two singles during the fifth inning, but managed to leave the game without giving up any more runs. During the sixth, he struck out Brice Durang and got the next two batters to line out and fly out in a 1-2-3 inning of work.
Reynaldo Lopez came on in relief and pitched the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. Other than a wild pitch that led to another Brewers run in the seventh inning, he too pitched well.
As usual, the Braves managed to keep things interesting, getting a two-run home run from Rowdy Tellez, his first of the season, to make the score 9-4 in the ninth. Tellez, a natural first baseman, came into the game for Olson at the start of the ninth inning.
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