Braves blow lead, lose after ugly 8th inning

Bullpen squanders 10-2 advantage in miserable weather conditions.

On a day unfit for CHICAGO — outdoor activities, the Braves’ offense kept the engines humming again Saturday for a wet,

cold afternoon at Wrigley Field, where they pounded another accomplished Cubs pitcher into an early exit and built a 10-2 lead through four innings. Then they lost, 14-10. Yes, the Braves had a series-clinching win at their frozen fingertips and let it slip away when the bullpen came unglued in a remarkable eighth inning that saw

the Cubs score nine runs against four Braves relievers, with Luke Jackson, Jose Ramirez, Sam Freeman and Peter Moylan all getting involved as the craziest, ugliest

inning in recent Braves history unfolded.

The Cubs scored a run in the sixth inning and two in the seventh to get within five, then won with a nine-run eighth that featured three hits, two batters hit by pitches and five walks, including three bases-loaded walks,

the last two by usually reliable lefty Freeman, who walked Kyle Schwarber with the bases loaded to bring in the go-ahead run and then walked Tommy La Stella to give the Cubs a 12-10 lead.

Moylan was the fourth pitcher of the inning and uncorked a wild pitch that let in one run, with a throwing error by catcher Kurt Suzuki on the play allowing the

ninth run of the inning to score.

Reduced to footnotes were the performances of Ozzie Albies and Braves starter Sean Newcomb, among others. Albies homered to start the game and had three hits and four RBIs through four innings as the Braves built a 10-2 lead. Newcomb pitched 5⅓ innings and gave up six hits, three runs (two earned) and four walks with seven strikeouts, with two of the hits and a bases-loaded walk coming in the sixth after he sat through several long Braves innings and finally seemed to wear down in the cold.

Saturday’s first-pitch temperature was 38 degrees, with a wind chill of 28, and a howling wind blew light rain for almost the entire game. It was so cold that Braves outfielders ran to the enclosed visitor’s bullpen beyond right field to warm up between two late-innings pitching changes.

Suzuki reached base five times (two hits, three walks), and Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis added two hits apiece for the Braves, who knocked Cubs left-hander Jose Quintana out after 2⅓ innings, one day after the Braves pelted Yu Darvish for nine hits and four runs in 4⅔ innings. Newcomb, a Massachu

setts native who pitched at the University of Hartford, seemed relatively unfazed by the raw weather, though after sitting through long innings while the Braves poured it on early his command eroded in the sixth.

With slumping Ender Inciarte getting a day off, Albies moved up to bat leadoff and hit his fifth homer — Washington’s Bryce Harper was the only major leaguer with more than five before Saturday — to give Albies home runs in the first inning of the worst two weather days of the season. He homered April 6 at Colorado in the first game of the trip, in 27-degree weather that made it the second-coldest game in Coors Field history.

But when the bullpen came apart, two streaks ended: The Braves lost for the first time in nine games when they’ve hit a home run, and lost for the first time in seven day games.

NAM Y. HUH / ASSOCIATED PRESS Braves relief pitcher Jose Ramirez reacts as he walks off the mound after being pulled by manager Brian Snitker during the eighth inning Saturday in Chicago. The Cubs won 14-10.

DAVID BANKS PHOTOS / GETTY IMAGES Chicago’s Kyle Schwarber (left) scored on a wild pitch from Peter Moylan (30) of the Braves as the Cubs overcame a 10-2 deficit.

Ozzie Albies had three hits, including a home run, his fifth of the season, to start the game to go along with four RBIs Saturday.