When the Braves arrived in Milwaukee after the series loss to the Mets, there was still ..."/> When the Braves arrived in Milwaukee after the series loss to the Mets, there was still ..."/>

Peralta Silences Braves Bats in 2-0 Loss to Milwaukee

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When the Braves arrived in Milwaukee after the series loss to the Mets, there was still faint optimism for the weekend to come. After all, the Brewers entered the weekend over 10 games under .500, and the Braves looked to have a pitching advantage in each and every game. Only, someone forgot to tell Wily Peralta.

The Brewers right-hander absolutely befuddled the Braves bats on Friday night in Milwaukee’s 2-0 victory. Peralta threw 7 innings of 2-hit ball, and while he walked 4 batters, he kept all 6 of the Braves base-runners from scoring. There was certainly some solid contact for Atlanta (namely from Heyward and company), but the ball wasn’t finding the gaps, and after Peralta handed things over to his bullpen for 2 more shutout innings, the lights were turned out on a Braves shutout loss.

Frankly, it was a shame to see Julio Teheran grab the loss on Friday, as he was pretty effective throughout his outing. Teheran tossed 6.1 innings and only allowed 2 runs for his trouble while striking out 5 Brewers hitters. Jean Segura, the rising star shortstop, was the offensive MVP of the game, and it wasn’t close. Segura went 3-for-4 on the day, and his 5th inning home run against Teheran was the insurance that the Milwaukee pitching staff needed to attack Braves hitters. Even if it wasn’t the high-level dominant stuff from Teheran that we’ve seen flashes of in recent days, it was certainly a positive effort, and he pitched well enough to win on most nights. Unfortunately, the offensive issues let him down in a big way.

On the positive side for the bats, they were extremely patient. Atlanta took 6 walks in the game, led by 2 from Dan Uggla to raise his OBP to .321, but the hits just refused to come. BJ Upton and Chris Johnson generated one single a piece, and while the aforementioned quality contact from Heyward, etc. did occur, there were no real threats to speak of on this night.

It will be a long series if the Braves offense doesn’t awaken, but there is a ray of hope in the Brewers pitching for the rest of the weekend. Peralta has the best pure “stuff” of anyone that the Braves will see in the next two days, and with the talent in this Atlanta lineup, it would be a shock to see another shutout loss. Stay tuned.