EDTShareTweetShareShareBullpen costs Braves for second
straight night in 3-2 loss to DiamondbacksBrett Davis-USA TODAY SportsBy all
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Edwin
Encarnacion Jersey , Tuesday’s loss was maddening for the Atlanta Braves
and the team looked to avenge that defeat on Wednesday against the Arizona
Diamondbacks. Despite a favorable situation for much of the evening, the rematch
ended in the same result, with Arizona taking advantage of Atlanta’s bullpen on
the way to a 3-2 victory in 10 innings. For the most part, there were few
fireworks in the opening innings, with one notable exception. After a quiet
inning and a half, Nick Markakis led off the second with a single and that was
quickly followed by a walk from Dansby Swanson. That set the stage for Brian
McCann, who returned from injury with a bang in the form of a two-run double to
give the Braves a 2-0 lead. From there, Kevin Gausman settled in to what was a
quality outing. The veteran right-hander did allow a solo home run to Adam Jones
in the fourth but, aside from that, Gausman was nearly flawless for his first
six innings of work while tying a career-high with 10 strikeouts. The seventh
frame wasn’t as kind, however, as Atlanta’s offense failed to build on its early
lead and Gausman ran into trouble. Eventually, he allowed a two-out, game-tying
double to Ketel Marte and that pushed the Braves into a situation that they
would have preferred to avoid at 2-2. Atlanta did put two runners on base in the
bottom of the seventh but that was an unsuccessful threat. On cue, Arizona put
together their own threat in the top of the ninth against A.J. Minter but, in
the end, the closer escaped without further incident, leaving the Braves with a
final chance to steal a victory in the bottom of the ninth. Ender Inciarte gave
the home team hope with a one-out double down the left field
line
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setting the table as the potential winning run. Johan Camargo and Ozzie Albies
were unable to push him across, though, and the game went to extra innings as a
result. In the top of the tenth inning, Jesse Biddle was given the ball and his
appearance came on the heels of something resembling a pledge on Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for the veteran left-hander the next night.
Biddle committed a costly throwing error with one out, placing a runner in
scoring position, then he issued three walks in four batters to force a run
across the plate. Dan Winkler cleaned up to prevent the deficit from growing but
Atlanta went to the bottom of the tenth in a 3-2 hole. After two outs to open
the frame, Ronald Acu帽a did provide a bit of hope with a single to right.
Ultimately, however, the Braves went quietly when Markakis flew out for the
team’s 30th out. Offensively, four members of the Braves reached base on
multiple occasions. Inciarte stroked two hits, and the trio of Markakis, Swanson
and McCann all produced hits and walks. Still, the run production wasn’t enough
to pull out the victory and it wasn’t as if the scoreboard was lighting up
throughout the evening. On the pitching side, Gausman completed seven innings
while scattering three hits and allowing two runs. He was flanked by solid
performances from Winkler and Wes Parsons, but Minter struggled (albeit without
scoreboard damage) and Biddle’s collapse led to the final result being a
negative one. The Braves and Diamondbacks will square off in the season finale
at 12:10 pm ET on Thursday afternoon, with Mike Soroka making his first start of
the season. Stay tuned. MILWAUKEE (AP) — Coming off four days of rest, All-Star
reliever Josh Hader was ready for an extended outing for Milwaukee on Sunday.Not
what the slumping Chicago Cubs needed at the end of a
miserable
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season-opening road trip.Christian Yelich homered and drove in three, Hader
completed an eight-out save and the Brewers beat the Cubs 4-2 to take two of
three in the series.The Cubs lost for the seventh time in eight games, dropping
to 2-7 ahead of their home opener Monday.Chicago threatened with two baserunners
in the seventh inning, but a well-rested Hader entered to clean up that mess and
cruised from there. The hard-throwing left-hander struck out three over 2 2/3
perfect innings, throwing 36 pitches for his fifth save. He hadn’t pitched since
Tuesday against Cincinnati.“We rode him a long time today,” Yelich said. “You
know when he has that much rest, he is going to come out and be pretty
good.”Zach Davies (1-0) pitched effectively into the sixth, helping Milwaukee
win for the seventh time in eight games. The Brewers have won 15 of their last
16 regular season series dating to last year.“Everything felt pretty good
today,” Davies said.Willson Contreras‘ two-run homer in the sixth against Davies
was unearned, and that was all Chicago could muster at the plate. Davies pitched
5 2/3 innings of five-hit ball, and Alex Claudio got two outs before handing off
to Hader.The teams combined for 45 runs in the first two games, including a
13-10 Brewers win Friday, before pitching took over in the finale.“We’ve shown,
and what I like, is that we can win games in different ways,” Brewers manager
Craig Counsell said. “That’s what a deep team should be able to do.”Cubs manager
Joe Maddon was pleased with his team’s play despite the loss.“It doesn’t always
work out as a win, but if you play enough good games and you play the game
right, you win your fair
share
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Maddon said.Yelich struck a two-run homer in the first inning off Kyle Hendricks
(0-2), his fifth of the season and 100th of his career.Travis Shaw’s run-scoring
single in the third made it 3-0. Milwaukee loaded the bases with no outs in the
fourth but managed just one run on Yelich’s sacrifice fly.Hendricks surrendered
four runs and eight hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out four over
75 pitches.After giving up a single to Ben Zobrist to lead off the game, Davies
(1-0) retired nine in row before Kris Bryant’s one-out bloop single in the
fourth.Davies cruised until the sixth, when Anthony Rizzo reached on first
baseman Eric Thames‘ error and Javier Baez had an infield hit. Milwaukee nearly
escaped with a groundball double play, but Contreras hit a two-run homer to
chase Davies.The Cubs threatened again the seventh, putting runners on the
corners with one out before Hader came on to record the final two outs,
including a strikeout of Rizzo.FIRST FOR YELICHYelich hit his first home run
against the Cubs since joining the Brewers last season.“It’s crazy because we
play them so much,” Yelich said. “They always pitch me tough.”BRYANT
STRUGGLINGBryant has started slowly after struggling late last season due to a
left shoulder injury. He was lifted from Saturday night’s game after striking
out in four consecutive at-bats. Bryant went 1 for 4 Sunday and is hitting
.231.“He’s working through some things right now, but the big thing is he’s
healthy,” Maddon said. “He’s an elite player. He’s going to start hitting, I
really believe that.”ROSTER MOVEThe Brewers recalled RHP Jake Petricka from
Triple-A San Antonio. RHP Taylor Williams was optioned to San Antonio.TRAINER’S
ROOMBrewers: 1B Jesus Aguilar, LF Ryan Braun and C Yasmani Grandal, all regular
starters, got the day off.UP NEXTCubs: Chicago will open at home Monday against
Pittsburgh. Jon Lester (1-0, 3.00 ERA) will make his third start of the season.
He’s 9-6 with a 3.18 ERA in 18 career starts against the Pirates.Brewers:
Jhoulys Chacin (2-0, 4.22) will take the mound in the opener of a three-game
series in Los Angeles against the Angels.