MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jarred Kelenic broke out of a month-long slump by hitting a homer and double in the Atlanta Braves’ 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Austin Riley went 4 for 5 as the Braves won despite leaving 11 men on base.
Kelenic doubled during Atlanta’s four-run outburst in the third inning and hit a solo shot over the left-field wall in the fourth.
Before Tuesday, Kelenic had batted just .125 (11 of 88) in July with a .189 on-base percentage and .239 slugging percentage. The slump had caused his batting average to sink from .278 to .235, while his OPS plunged from .781 to .681.
Kelenic, who grew up in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, had a large group of fans cheering him on from behind the Braves’ dugout.
Braves pitcher Bryce Elder (2-4) ended a slide of his own.
Elder, who entered the night with a 6.35 ERA, carried a shutout into the seventh inning and ended up allowing a single run and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked one.
A.J. Minter, Joe Jiménez and Raisel Iglesias pitched a combined 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief.
Brewers pitcher Joe Ross (2-5) was making his first appearance since a lower back strain caused him to leave a May 20 start after one inning. After retiring seven of the first eight batters he faced, Ross ran into serious trouble in the third.
The Braves got four straight hits against Ross as Nacho Alvarez singled and Kelenic doubled down the right-field line before Riley and Marcell Ozuna delivered RBI singles. Eddie Rosario added a two-out, two-run single to right later in the inning to extend Atlanta’s lead to 4-0.
Kelenic then hit a 1-1 pitch over the left-field wall with two outs in the fourth for his 12th homer of the season.
Ross struck out four and allowed five runs, eight hits and two walks in five innings.
The Brewers scored their lone run in the seventh. Jackson Chourio drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on Sal Frelick’s base hit and scored on a Gary Sánchez single to left.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: LHP Max Fried threw a bullpen session Monday and has another scheduled for Wednesday as he approaches a return from left forearm neuritis. Fried last pitched on July 16.
Brewers: Manager Pat Murphy said the MRI on RHP Trevor Megill didn’t show “anything too troublesome.” Megill went on the injured list Monday due to a lower back issue.
UP NEXT
LHP Chris Sale (13-3, 2.68 ERA) pitches for the Braves and RHP Freddy Peralta (6-6, 3.94) starts for the Brewers as this three-game series concludes Wednesday afternoon.
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