Braves fail to find key move in 2-1 loss to Brewers

The Atlanta Braves had plenty of chances, but couldn’t find a hit in a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Charlie Morton put in another strong performance, but the Brewers took a quick lead with a two-out solo home run from Willy Adames in the first inning. Morton struck out the next 11 batters he faced before Milwaukee struck again in the fifth.

Lorenzo Cain hit a single in the infield with one out, then advanced to third place on a Luis Urias single bloop. Dansby Swanson almost pulled off an excellent over-the-shoulder catch, but the ball bounced off his glove. Cain scored on a Jackie Bradley Jr. field to extend the lead to 2-0.

Morton finished his outing strong by pulling the side down in the sixth. Morton started well again and only made one mistake on Adames’ home run. None of the balls in the sixth were hit hard but were well placed. He would come out after allowing three hits and two runs in six innings. He took out six of them and didn’t make anyone walk.

As good as Morton is, Brett Anderson equaled him field for field. He sat down the Braves’ first six hitters he faced before Guillermo Heredia led the third with a double to the left. Heredia moved up to third on a Kevan Smith bunt, but Morton pulled it out, then Ozzie Albies failed to end the threat.

Freddie Freeman had a single with a fourth out, but Atlanta couldn’t do anything with him. They eventually broke through in sixth as Albies scored just one out, then moved up to second on a walk to Jorge Soler. Freeman then brought Cain sharply to center for the second out. Craig Counsell would then go to his pen and summon John Curtiss to replace Anderson to face Austin Riley. Riley worked the count to 1-1, then didn’t miss an elevated slider she served into center field for a single with a point to reduce the deficit to 2-1.

Dansby Swanson followed with a ball to right field, but Bradley crushed it with a smooth shoulder grip for the inning final.

Chris Martin worked a scoreless seventh and the Braves would threaten again in the lower half of the frame. Smith had a two-out single and moved up to second when batter Joc Pederson was hit in the foot by a Brad Boxberger pitch. However, Albies took first place on a 3-2 pitch to leave the runners stranded.

Luke Jackson worked a perfect eighth and the Braves threatened again in the bottom half of the inning. Soler chose Devin Williams to start the frame. After a strikeout by Freeman, Riley followed with another single to put the runners first and second. However, Williams dug in and pulled out Swanson and Adam Duvall to leave two more runners stranded.

Richard Rodriguez placed the Brewers in ninth order in his second appearance in a Braves uniform. In the end, Atlanta missed too many opportunities as Josh Hader pulled the team out to end the game in the ninth.

Another frustrating result for the Braves who left eight men and were only 1 to 9 with runners in scoring position. Atlanta put four balls into play with an exit speed of over 100 mph but has nothing to show for it.

So ends an exhausting period for the Braves, who will enjoy a day off Monday before heading to St. Louis for a three-game series against the Cardinals.