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A seventh of five points was more than the Atlanta Braves could overcome in a 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
The last time the Braves saw Madison Bumgarner, he held them without a hitting in seven innings in Game 2 of a doubles program on April 25. Bumgarner struck out the first five hitters he faced Thursday before Travis d’Arnaud made a single in the second. He escaped that jam but wasn’t so lucky in the third as the Atlanta offense kicked off.
Freddie Freeman did a two-man walk to get things going. Ozzie Albies followed with a deep workout in the Chase Field triangle on the left that hit the wall. Freeman scored on the play to give the Braves a 1-0 advantage. The replay showed interference from the fans on the game, but the referees determined that Freeman would have scored anyway.
Austin Riley made it a moot point two lengths later when he hit a long home run on the left to extend the lead to 3-0. The explosion was Riley’s 32nd season and his third in the series.
The Diamondbacks eventually pulled off a run against Charlie Morton in fifth. Jake McCarthy had a double with a strikeout, then came on to score on a Daulton Varsho single to make it 3-1. Morton allowed Josh Rojas to blend into a 6-3 double play to complete the frame without further damage.
Atlanta recovered that point in the sixth. Adam Duvall scored a single with one out, then moved up to third on a double from d’Arnaud. Dansby Swanson followed with a sacrifice fly of 400 feet to make it 4-1.
Morton sat sideways in sequence in the sixth but struggled in the seventh as Josh VanMeter and Ildemaro Vargas started the round with straight singles. This would be the end of the line for Morton who has been replaced by Jacob Webb. Webb has been pretty good lately, but he left a 0-1 change in the heart of the plate to Carson Kelly who pushed him to the left for a three-run homerun that tied the game. Kole Calhoun followed with a double to left field for Arizona’s fourth consecutive hit. Varsho followed with a rocket doubled over Heredia’s header in the center to score Calhoun to give the Diamondbacks a 5-4 lead.
Tyler Matzek replaced Webb and retired Josh Rojas on a decay of sacrifice with Varsho moving up to third place. Pinch hitter Henry Ramos then drove a sacrifice fly to the right to take the lead to 6-4. The woes continued as David Peralta doubled down on the left. Matzek then intentionally made Christian Walker walk, then pulled VanMeter on holds to end the round with mercy.
Morton deserved better because he was in control for most of the afternoon. He allowed five hits and three runs in six or more innings. He struck out eight and surpassed the 200 strikeout mark for the season.
Richard Rodriguez gave up a brace with one out for Kelly in the eighth, but struck out the next two hitters to keep the score 6-4. However, the Arizona relievers’ box pulled out the last six Braves in order to end the game.
The defeat stings but the Braves still win three of the four in the series. Their lead drops to 2.5 games in the NL East pending the outcome of the Phillies / Pirates game later tonight. Atlanta will continue its road trip to San Diego on Friday.
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