Braves 10, Brewers 8: Bullpen collapses

It was a Friday night to forget for the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen.

Staked to a four-run lead by an offense that bashed three home runs and knocked out 13 hits, Jacob Barnes, Carlos Torres and Neftali Feliz combined to surrender six runs over the final three innings as the Brewers suffered a deflating 10-8 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Miller Park.

Orlando Arcia, Ryan Braun and Domingo Santana all went deep as Milwaukee opened leads of 4-0 and 8-4 behind starter Chase Anderson, but it turned out not to be enough.

One tough inning blew up the National League-leading 1.13 ERA Anderson brought in with him, but he was solid otherwise over six innings.

Milwaukee's relievers were a different story.

Barnes gave up three runs in one-third of an inning after being largely untouchable coming in. Torres gave up another in the eighth as the Braves tied it at 8-8. Then Feliz (0-3) completed the collapse in the ninth, allowing an Adonis Garcia double to start and a Freddie Freeman homer to straightaway center to complete Atlanta's comeback.

The Brewers jumped on Bartolo Colón, the ageless Braves starter, for four runs in the second. Keon Broxton drove in the first run with an RBI double, then Arcia went out and got a Colón fastball and sent it over the wall in right for a three-run shot.

BOX SCORE: Braves 10, Brewers 8

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It was the second round-tripper in as many days for Arcia, who had been struggling to get going at the plate. All three of his homers this season have gone to right field. The Brewers, meanwhile, jumped in front of an opponent for the 22nd time in 24 games on the year.

The Braves got all four runs back against Anderson in the third. Ender Inciarte drove in the first run with an RBI single, then three batters later Matt Kemp delivered the big blow with a three-run double to right-center to knot it up at 4-4.

Braun's two-run homer in the fifth off Colón and Santana's two-run, pinch-hit homer in the sixth upped Milwaukee's lead to 8-4. Santana batted for Anderson, who threw 86 pitches and allowed four hits, four runs (earned) and three walks while striking out a pair.

Atlanta scored three times against Barnes in the seventh, with Inciarte's two-run double and Garcia's run-scoring single doing the damage.

Corey Knebel came on to get the final two outs of the inning on just seven pitches. But manager Craig Counsell's decision to go with Torres in the eighth proved costly when he gave up three singles, with Kurt Suzuki's two-out, pinch-hit flare to left tied it at 8-8.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

• Despite being pulled in the eighth inning Wednesday due to tightness in his left hamstring, Eric Thames was back in the lineup at first base. While no doubt there was a collective sigh of relief from Brewers fans, Counsell indicated there wasn't much question he'd be penciling Thames in.

"I didn't even think about it, really," he said.

Thames finished 1 for 4 with a walk on the night and has now reached base safely in 20 of his 22 games.

• Counsell tipped his cap to Colón, a former peer in the major leagues who is still pitching at a high level at nearly 44 years old. He's a familiar face on the sports highlight shows because of his 5-foot-11, 280-pound frame, but ranks as the active leader in a number of pitching categories including victories (234), starts (505) and innings (3,196 1/3 entering Friday).

He even pitched in Miller Park's predecessor, County Stadium.

"He’s unique," Counsell said. "I think the formula to lasting that long is one, he’s really good, and he’s unique in what he does. The scouting report hasn’t changed for him in the last 7-8 years. It’s the same report, and that’s a credit to him. He executes what he’s good at. And that’s the challenge in facing a guy like that.

"At 43 years old, starting major-league baseball games, it’s certainly pretty remarkable."

STAT SHEET

• Barnes entered Friday as one of just five relievers in the majors to have not allowed an earned run this season (minimum of 10 innings pitched). Joining Barnes (12 1/3 innings) on the list were Baltimore's Brad Brach (12), Texas's Alex Claudio (10), Cleveland's Andrew Miller (10) and Kansas City's Joakim Soria (10 innings).

He surrendered three earned runs in just one-third of an inning on Friday, however, before being pulled for Knebel.

TAKEAWAY

Milwaukee's bullpen had been rock-solid – especially Barnes. But he started the ball rolling with a shaky seventh, and neither Torres nor Feliz could shut the door behind him. It's not often a team loses after scoring eight runs and collecting 13 hits.

RECORD

This year: 12-12 (6-9 home; 6-3 away)

Last year: 8-15

ATTENDANCE

Friday: 26,453

2017 total: 430,244 (28,683 avg.)

Last year: 413,728 (27,582 avg.)

NEXT GAME

Saturday: Brewers vs. Braves, 6:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Jimmy Nelson (1-1, 4.56) vs. Atlanta LHP Jaime Garcia (0-1, 4.24). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.