More suspect pitching and some shaky defense plagued the Atlanta Braves today in a 7-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Bartolo Colon got the start for the Braves and was tagged for eight hits and six earned runs over 3 2⁄3 innings. Colon allowed an RBI double to Stephen Moya in the first and was stung for four runs in the second with the big blow coming on a two-run single by Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos.
Colon worked a scoreless third but was stung again by Castellanos in the fourth with a ground-rule double that scored Adam Gose before exiting the game.
The Braves plated a pair of runs in the second on a Kirk Suzuki double and a sac bunt by Colon. Atlanta continued to chip away through the middle innings. Rio Ruiz brought home a run in the sixth with a double. Adam Walker made it 6-4 in the seventh with a double of his own to score Ozzie Albies. The Braves trimmed the lead to a single run in the eighth on an RBI groundout by Connor Lien.
However, Detroit answered back in the ninth with an insurance run on a Juan Perez double off of reliever David Peterson. Daniel Stumpf retired the Braves in order in the ninth to close out the victory.
Suzuki and Ruiz finished with two hits each for the Braves. Atlanta left 11 men on base and was just 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Castellanos drove in three for the Tigers.
Blaine Boyer, Eric O’Flaherty, Kevin Chapman and Chaz Roe combined for 4 1⁄3 innings of scoreless relief for Atlanta.
The Braves are back in action on Sunday when Julio Teheran makes his first start since returning from the World Baseball Classic against the St. Louis Cardinals.