Chris Johnson’s home run lifts Atlanta Braves over Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 for series win
Apr 2, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman
Chris Johnson(23) runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Johnson’s solo home run in the top of the seventh inning would be the lone run of the game for the Atlanta Braves, but with a fantastic debut on the mound from Aaron Harang, it would be enough to grab a second win and series victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Harang and Matt Garza were going back-and-forth for the better part of this game, with neither pitcher yielding a hit until Johnson’s aforementioned blast in the seventh. Harang finished the game with 6.2 innings pitched, three strikeouts, one walk and just two hits allowed. It was great to see an outing like this out of Harang.
Aside from Johnson’s homer, it was a quiet day for the Braves at the plate. The team only managed three hits in nine innings with B.J. Upton and Gerald Laird adding singles. After Upton led off the inning with his first hit of the season, he tacked on his first stolen base–hopefully one of many more to come.
After Harang came out of the game, Fredi Gonzalez went to Luis Avilan, David Carpenter and Craig Kimbrel. Avilan only came in for one out and it’s no surprise that Kimbrel recorded his second save of the season, but it’s now two games where Fredi has given Carpenter the nod in the eighth inning with a close game on the line. He did the job fine on both occasions, but this has to raise some questions about Jordan Walden‘s health/availability at this time.
It’ll be something to watch out for, but in the meantime it’s great to see the Braves bounce back after that first loss and win the first series of the season.