Braves 3, Brewers 1: Dickey's knuckleball too much

ATLANTA – It shouldn’t have been much of a surprise that the Milwaukee Brewers had few good swings against R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball.

Among those in the Brewers’ starting lineup Saturday, only Travis Shaw previously had faced Dickey, those confrontations came when Shaw played for Boston and Dickey pitched for Toronto.

Dickey allowed a run in the first inning but clamped down the Brewers' attack for the remainder of his seven-inning stint, allowing the Atlanta Braves to take a 3-1 victory at SunTrust Park.

It was the second loss in two games here for the Brewers, who slipped to 40-37 but remained atop the muddled National League Central race.

"We had a nice rally in the first inning but we didn't really generate much offense after that," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "No real scoring opportunities after that. No multiple runners. We couldn't really get anything going."

Opponents who face Dickey hope he will have trouble controlling his knuckleball and create his own problems. But he pounded the strike zone as much as you can with such an unpredictable pitch, throwing 71 of 99 pitches for strikes.

Throw in the late-game shadows across the plate with the 4 p.m. start and the Brewers never made Dickey uncomfortable after the opening inning.

"He was getting ahead of guys," Shaw said. "He had it working both ways, in and out. His (knuckleball) is more left to right than it is up and down. When you're ahead of guys, it can be tough.

"Then the shadows creep in during the middle of the game and it gets even tougher. When he's throwing consistent strikes like that, he can be tough to hit."

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BOX SCORE: Braves 3, Brewers 1

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Brewers starter Matt Garza also settled in over the middle part of the game but paid dearly for one mistake pitch. He hung a 2-1 changeup in the third inning to Brandon Phillips, who pounded it out to left for a two-run homer that snapped a 1-1 tie and proved to be the decisive blow.

"It sucks but you can't really do anything about it now," Garza said. "Just learn from it and execute it better next time. I paid for a hanging changeup. I wish it would have kept going up and gone over his head, or something.

"As soon as the shadows came in, it was tough for the hitters. For Dickey, it was tough to make out what he was throwing. We'll come back and fight them tomorrow. These guys aren't done scratching and clawing. We'll keep fighting."

The top of the first inning had a little of everything, including the only run for the Brewers. Keon Broxton and Domingo Santana singled, Shaw walked, Nick Franklin was ejected from the dugout, Hernán Perez drove in a run with a 6-5 forceout and Dickey was charged with a balk on a double steal attempt.

Just your normal stuff.

The Braves tied the score in the bottom of the inning without such madness, putting together three singles. Tyler Flowers’ two-out hit to center did the trick, tying the game 1-1.

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As it turned out, Phillips' homer in the third settled things, even though there was plenty of game remaining at the time. Garza settled down and did not allow the game to get away but the Brewers’ bats remained quiet.

"I felt good," Garza said. "It was just hot. My legs felt heavy, so you just power through it and keep going. I actually did figure something out. I was trying to attack the zone."

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

• Franklin, who wasn’t in the starting lineup, was ejected from the dugout with one out in the top of the first inning by umpire crew chief Jerry Meals, who was working second base. He was complaining aloud about how long the Braves were getting to decide whether to challenge a safe call on a pickoff at first base with Dickey trying to nab Broxton.

The Brewers are playing with a four-man bench and Counsell wasn't pleased that Franklin got ejected.

"It doesn't make any sense to get ejected there," Counsell said. "It shouldn't happen. Somebody else can do the arguing there."

• Counsell said all went well with the first rehab action for leftfielder Ryan Braun and Jonathan Villar on Friday with Class A Wisconsin. Braun played in the first game in left field and Villar saw time in both games.

Counsell said Braun would DH on Saturday and Villar would play second base. They are slated to play there again Sunday, then rejoin the team in St. Louis if all goes well.

STAT SHEET

• Dickey had allowed 15 home runs this season, including nine at SunTrust Park, where the ball has carried well thus far. But the Brewers didn’t come close to hitting one out of the park against him.

TAKEAWAY

The Brewers’ bats have been relatively quiet this week, though they scored enough to win two games against the Pirates. They just couldn’t adjust to Dickey’s knuckleball, leading to a sluggish day for the offense.

RECORD

This year: 40-37 (21-22 home; 19-15 away)

Last year: 35-42

NEXT GAME

Sunday: Brewers at Braves. 12:35 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies (7-4, 5.40) vs. Atlanta RHP Julio Teheran (6-5, 4.76). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.