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. Kelenic grew up in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, and said he has been staying at his childhood home during this series.
“It’s probably the most surreal homer I’ve hit so far in my short career,” the 25-year-old Kelenic said. “Just running around the bases, I kind of got butterflies.”
Kelenic said he had about 80 friends and relatives cheering him on from behind the Braves’ dugout.
“I saw some teachers that I had in middle school that were here,” Kelenic said. “It just kind of makes you think about when you were a kid and stuff like that. It's super special to be here. I'm just trying to take it all in.”
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.
“It's going to be like that with a young player,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It's going to be up and down, peaks and valleys and things like that as they learn to put this whole thing together.”
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.
After getting selected to the All-Star Game last season, Elder has spent much of this year shuffling between Atlanta and Triple-A Gwinnett. He has nine starts in the majors and 10 in the minors.
“It kind of sucks, but that's kind of the role I'm in right now, so I've got to embrace it and roll with it and give the fellows a chance to win,” Elder said. “That's what I'm trying to do.”
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.
“I wasn’t really executing pitches location-wise," Ross said. "I kind of looked back and they were middle and middle-up. That’s obviously not really where I’m trying to go. They put the ball in play and found some holes. They capitalized on poor execution.”
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.
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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