Braves bats silenced by Milwaukee pitching in 1-0 defeat

The bats of the Atlanta Braves were silenced by the pitching of the Milwaukee Brewers.

After a series loss to the San Diego Padres, the Atlanta Braves traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on the NL Central-leading Brewers. Ian Anderson was on the mound for the Braves, while Freddy Peralta started the game for Milwaukee.

Ronald Acuña Jr. was still not in the lineup on this night due to his ongoing groin injury. He did participate in practice drills before the game, and Brian Snitker said that he likely could play the next day (Tuesday) if he feels ok.

Peralta, who came into the game with a 15.00 ERA in the first inning of his starts, got the first two Atlanta hitters out before Austin Riley hit a single into right field. After a Marcell Ozuna walk,  Travis d’Arnaud came to the plate. He smacked a ball hard (98.5 mph off the bat according to Baseball Savant), but former Brave Jace Peterson made a great snag from third base to take away an RBI.

The game remained scoreless until the sixth inning, when Hunter Renfroe scored on a wild pitch by Ian Anderson to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

Anderson finished with six innings pitched, four hits, one earned run, and three strikeouts.

Freddy Peralta turned in his best start of the 2022 season by pitching seven shutout innings while striking out 10 batters. 2020 NL Rookie of the Year Devin Williams struck out the side in the top of the eight, and Josh Hader, arguably the best closer in baseball, shut down the Braves in the ninth inning with three strikeouts of his own.

Over the past two games, Braves hitters have struck out 32 times.

Braves rookie Spencer Strider pitched two innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking out three batters. The former Clemson Tiger lowered his season ERA to 2.75. Some thought he would be a candidate to start Tuesday’s game.

The Braves will battle the Brewers Tuesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:40pm EDT.