Nelson struggles; Kemp hits 3 homers
Two steps forward, three steps back.
That’s how the season has begun for Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jimmy Nelson, who scuffled for five innings Saturday night as Atlanta took its second victory in a row at Miller Park by an 11-3 score. Braves leftfielder Matt Kemp did much of the damage with the first three-homer game of his career.
There were high hopes
for Nelson when he followed a solid spring camp with two promising starts, allowing nine hits and two runs over 13 innings (1.39 ERA). But he has gone in
the other direction in his last three outings, getting tagged for 25 hits and 15 earned runs in 15 innings (8.62). Those three performances have been reminiscent of the long slide that left Nelson with an 8-16 record and 4.62 ERA last season.
Nelson got some help from his defense in the early going. Leftfielder Ryan Braun caught Adonis Garcia trying to stretch a single to a double in the first inning and rightfielder Domingo Santana did likewise with Brandon Phillips in the second after fielding his shot off the wall.
Few things went Nelson’s way over the remainder of his stint. Ender Inciarte walked with one down in the third, stole second and scored when Freddie Freeman lined an opposite-field double to left with two down.
Atlanta went on top to stay in the fourth on Tyler Flowers’ run-scoring hit, which was close to being a sensational out. Flowers sent a liner to left-center that Braun tried to snare with a diving effort but it caromed off his glove to make it a 2-1 game.
Nelson’s final inning went downhill after Inciarte’s one-out double to right-center. Second baseman Jonathan Villar missed a pickoff throw from Nelson, allowing Inciarte to move to third.
The runner held as Garcia bounced out but catcher Manny Piña let a breaking ball get past, allowing Inciarte to score. Freeman then poked an infield hit and Matt Kemp blasted a downthe-middle fastball for a homer and the Braves suddenly had a 5-1 lead.
Kemp homered in the seventh as the Braves added four runs off lefty Tommy Milone, then again in the eighth off Jhan Mariñez.
The frustrating evening for the Brewers included the ejection in the seventh inning of Braun, who tossed his shin/foot guard from the dugout toward home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott after a dubious strike-three call. BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
Brewers 1B Eric Thames is becoming well acquainted with MLB’s random in-season drug testing. After the game Friday night, he was tested for the third time in 10 days. That does not include the mandatory testing in spring training that all players undergo.
Right-hander Junior Guerra threw a 45pitch bullpen session before the game as his next step in his recovery from the strained right calf that landed him on the DL the first day of the season. Manager Craig Counsell said the real challenge would come with agility drills to test his leg.
Third baseman Travis Shaw left the game in the fifth inning with a bruised right hand, the result of being hit by a pitch in the first inning. STAT SHEET
The Brewers scored one run in the first inning to boost their total in that frame to 28 in their 25 games. Opponents have scored just eight runs in the first inning. TAKEAWAY
The Brewers’ pitching has been awful in the first two games of this series, and shaky in general for some time. Atlanta came to town averaging 4.0 runs per game and has routed the Brewers’ staff for 21 runs with the series finale remaining Sunday. RECORD
This year: 12-13 (6-10 home; 6-3 away)
Last year: 10-15 ATTENDANCE Saturday: 30,026 2017 total: 460,270 (28,767 avg.)
Last year: 441,904 (27,619 avg.) NEXT GAME
Sunday: Brewers vs. Braves, 1:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Matt Garza (0-0, 2.25) vs. Atlanta RHP Mike Foltynewicz (0-2, 3.20). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: 620-AM.