Ervin Santana roughed up early, Brewers top Braves

On the heels of a couple of huge offensive outputs, the Atlanta Braves‘ bats went silent yet again, and were only able to get a single run across against Kyle Lohse and the Milwaukee Brewers in a 6-1 loss.

The good news (if there is such a thing in a loss like this) for Braves fans is that all of the Brewers runs came in the first four innings. The bad news, is that every run was scored via a home run, and one of those slams were grand – which came off the bat off Mark Reynolds in the first inning of the game…sorry, letting my fan out. The second home run was kind of a fluke, as Carlos Gomez hit a ball into center field that kept going and going and… eventually, Braves’ center fielder B.J. Upton ran out of room trying to track it. The only run Atlanta was able to get across came in the bottom of the first, when Justin Upton doubled home Freddie Freeman.

Regardless of how you look at it, Braves and Brewers fans alike have been treated to back to back wonderful pitching performances. However, tonight, Brewers fans are the ones who are hanging their heads high, as Lohse went eight innings and allowing just four hits and striking out eight. Lohse’s performance was good enough to win his sixth straight decision. On the other end, Ervin Santana must have had a stuffy nose, because he was unable to smell baseball tonight, at least in the early going. Santana did settle down enough to go seven innings, although he did allow nine hits and four walks. The Braves bullpen was splendid in their two innings of relief, as Luis Avilan and Anthony Varvaro combined to pitch two innings of one hit, two strikeout ball.

After last nights big win, I kind of felt like a game like this was around the corner. Luckily for the Braves, they aren’t ending the series on this note, as the two teams will get back at it tomorrow night. The Braves will throw Aaron Harang on the bump to oppose Matt Garza.