Braves 10, Brewers 7: Rare offensive outburst goes to waste as Atlanta hammers Milwaukee pitching

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves offense, like the summer heat in northwest Georgia, is relentless.

Adrian Houser and Bryse Wilson could have used a reprieve Friday night at Truist Park, but, as they learned, there is no cooling off these Braves bats when your pitches are left over the plate.

On a day when the Milwaukee Brewers offense had its best performance of the second half, the pitching had its worst.

The Braves tagged Houser for six runs, spraying line drives all over the field over his four-plus innings on the mound, then put up four more against Wilson on their way to a 10-7 win over the Brewers in the first of a three-game series.

Nineteen batters reached base for the Braves, who lead the National League in OPS and are second in runs scored. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit and seven players reached base multiple times.

The big blows came courtesy of Marcell Ozuna, Austin Riley and Matt Olson, whose three solo home runs highlighted an onslaught of as many runs in one game than the Brewers had allowed in their last four combined.

Braves offense tags Adrian Houser with hard contact

Six days ago, Houser tied a career high with 10 strikeouts against the Braves in what Brewers manager Craig Counsell called the right-hander’s best start of the season.

Friday, Houser was not missing bats. He wasn’t missing barrels, either.

A two-out rally that featured four consecutive hits over a span of seven pitches gave the Braves a 3-2 lead in the second, with former Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia lining a two-run single and Ronald Acuna Jr. tacking on the third run with a single.

Houser gave up a solo home run to Ozuna in the fourth, then failed to retire anyone in the fifth as the top of the Braves lineup tagged three consecutive hits to take a 5-4 lead.

The eight hits allowed were tied for the second most put up against Houser in a start this year and the six earned runs equaled his season-high, set on May 30 against Toronto.

Abraham Toro had a loud day at the plate

All Abraham Toro has done at the major-league level this year is hit.

Toro, freshly recalled from Class AAA Nashville on Wednesday, was batting .455 in six games coming into the day. With a 3-for-4 day that included a home run and four runs batted in, that number went up.

Toro drove in a run with a groundout in the second, singled in the fourth and sixth and then brought the Brewers back within 10-7 with a three-run homer, his second of the year, in the eighth off reliever Ben Heller.

Justin Wilson suffers apparent injury

Set to make his return to a major-league mound after recovering from Tommy John surgery, Brewers reliever Justin Wilson appeared to suffer an injury while warming up in the bullpen in the seventh inning.

Counsell was set to call Wilson into the game during a mound visit, but upon making the signal to the bullpen in left field, it became apparent that Wilson, who had been loosening, was injured and couldn’t come in.

Wilson had last appeared in the majors last April and underwent surgery on his left elbow last June.

A Twitter List by journalsentinel

Brewers lineup:

1. Christian Yelich, DH

2. William Contreras, C

3. Willy Adames, SS

4. Sal Frelick, RF

5. Andruw Monasterio, 3B

6. Abraham Toro, 1B

7. Tyrone Taylor, LF

8. Brice Turang, 2B

9. Joey Wiemer, CF

Starting pitcher

Adrian Houser, W/L 3-2, ERA 3.86

Up next

Saturday – Brewers at Braves, 6:20 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Julio Teheran (2-4, 3.75) vs. Atlanta RHP Bryce Elder (7-2, 3.30). TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.

More: Brewers trade rumors: What about Jeimer Candelario?

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More: Milwaukee Brewers players injury updates for 2023 season: Justin Wilson

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Braves hit three homers in 10-7 win over Adrian Houser, Brewers