Atlanta Braves Clippings Wednesday, June 3, 2015 Braves.com Braves rally, only to fall to D-backs on late HR By Barry M. Bloom and Jake Rill / MLB.com | 2:10 AM ET PHOENIX -- A.J. Pollock hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning to lift the D-backs to a 7-6 win over the Braves on Tuesday night at Chase Field. Pollock's opposite-field blast came on a 1-0 pitch from Braves reliever Brandon Cunniff, landing in the swimming pool in right-center. It was the sixth homer of the year for the center fielder, who has hit safely in 12 of 14 games and batted .397 during that stretch. "I just got a pitch middle-away, I was trying to put it in the gap and watch Ender [Inciarte] run and hopefully get that run in," Pollock said. "Fortunate enough, it went over the fence." Braves starter Shelby Miller had his shortest outing of the year, lasting just 4 1/3 innings and giving up a season-high four runs on six hits and a season-high six walks. D-backs starter Josh Collmenter took his third straight no-decision, giving up three runs in 5 2/3 innings. "I just didn't get in the groove type thing, but those kinds of days happen," Miller said. "I mean, you're human. You look at Felix Hernandez's start [on Monday night in a Mariners' 7-1 loss to the Yankees] and other guys who are doing well have poor starts. That kind of stuff's going to happen." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Doing it all: Ender Inciarte helped the D-backs with his bat, glove, and speed. He reached base four times, driving in two runs with a single in the second and walking ahead of Pollock's go-ahead homer. Inciarte also swiped two bases and made a diving catch in foul territory in the third on a Jace Peterson fly ball, crashing hard into the wall but holding on. Inciarte made a nice running catch on a Freddie Freeman liner to end the third. "Into the security guard, I think he kicked him in the head," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "Well we had [Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan] here [Monday], so I think he was inspired by him." Bats come to life: After Collmenter exited with runners on second and third and two outs in the sixth, the Braves came through with several big hits against the bullpen.A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run single to right off of J.C. Ramirez, followed by an RBI double off the left-field wall from Jonny Gomes that tied the game at 4. Then, Todd Cunningham gave the Braves a 6-4 lead with a double down the left-field line off of Andrew Chafin. First base is yours: D-backs slugger Paul Goldschmidt was walked in each of his first four plate appearances, the last two times intentionally. It was the second time in three games that Goldschmidt matched his career high in walks. Mark Trumbo was unable to capitalize, however, going 0-for-5 in the cleanup spot. Scoring early: The Braves got to Collmenter with two out and nobody on in the first. Freeman singled, stole second and scored on a Nick Markakis double. Markakis was stranded on second when Juan Uribe whiffed looking, and that was it for the Atlanta offense in the opening innings. QUOTABLE "It's not easy. That's just who he is, he's locked in from the time, I think, he gets up at home." -- Hale, on Goldschmidt, who went 1-for-1 with a double and four walks WHAT'S NEXT Braves: The Braves end a 10-game road trip through Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix on Wednesday with a 3:40 p.m. ET start at Chase Field. It'll be right-hander Mike Foltynewicz (3-2, 3.96 ERA) on the hill for Atlanta. The Braves have an off-day Thursday before opening a seven-game Turner Field homestand Friday night vs. the Pirates. D-backs: Rubby De La Rosa (4-2, 4.50) takes the mound in the series finale Wednesday at 12:40 p.m. MT looking to build on some of the success he had in May. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 3.71 ERA in his past five starts. Cunniff's inexperience costly to Braves Young reliever issues two-out walk, then go-ahead two-run HR in loss to D-backs By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com | 2:40 AM ET PHOENIX -- It seems to be an epidemic of sorts this season around Major League Baseball, that two-out walk or base hit with nobody on base that winds up costing some team a game. "I've seen a lot of it from our side," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said after Tuesday night's 7-6 loss to the D-backs. "But, you're right. I don't know if it's younger pitchers with lack of focus and experience. I don't know if it's the strike zone. When you walk a guy you give your defense no chance to get an out. We've got to get it fixed. We've really got to get it fixed." It happened to the Braves in the seventh inning against the D-backs. The two-out walk issued by young and inexperienced reliever Brandon Cunniff to Ender Inciarte led directly to the loss. A.J. Pollock hit a two-run homer into the pool in right-center field on a 1-0 pitch. "The walk, it killed me," Cunniff said in the understatement of the night. "I had [Inciarte] 1-2 and I couldn't finish him off. It killed me, you know." It was a night when Shelby Miller had one of his worst starts of the season, tying a career high with six walks, one of them to Paul Goldschmidt with the bases loaded, the first time Miller has done that in 89 big league starts. Four of the five Atlanta pitchers walked 10 D-backs in all. "You can't walk 10 guys in a game and expect to win," veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "I mean, it was one of those nights that things didn't work." Yet, despite all this, the Braves wiped out a 4-1 deficit with five runs in the sixth when they chased Arizona starter Josh Collmenter and sent nine guys to the plate. They led, 6-4, at that juncture, but they couldn't close the game out in the sixth and seventh innings. "I think we've lost five games on this [10-game] road trip and it's all in those innings," Gonzalez said. "We can't get the ball to [Jim] Johnson or to [Jason] Grilli. When we do that, we've got a good to chance to win a ballgame." Gonzalez said he's as perplexed as anyone at the inability of his pitchers to easily close out an inning. Even the usually reliable Miller issued a two- out, nobody-on walk in the first to Goldschmidt, who strolled four times in the game, twice intentionally. The irony is that Mark Trumbo, batting behind Goldschmidt, didn't beat the Braves. He went 0-for-5 and stranded nine runners in the game. But the Braves pitchers found a way to beat themselves. "You see it in the eyes of the position players sometimes when they're battling," Gonzalez said. "And you know it's nobody's fault, really. We scratch back from down 4-1 and go up two runs, and the next thing you know, they hit a two-run homer and they win the ballgame. You don't want too many more of these." Freeman, Braves seek All-Star votes Slugger not among top five at first base in NL; Pierzynski fourth among catchers By Mark Bowman / MLB.com | @mlbbowman | June 2nd, 2015 ATLANTA -- Now that Freddie Freeman has homered in three of his past four games, he might start garnering the same level of support he received from All-Star voters the past few seasons. When the latest update of the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot was released Tuesday afternoon, Freeman was not listed among the top five National League first basemen. For the second straight week, veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski stood as the only Braves player who ranked among the top five at his respective position. Pierzynski has garnered the fourth-most votes among National League catchers. Still he sits more than one million votes behind San Francisco's Buster Posey, who holds a slim lead over St. Louis' Yadier Molina. Freeman has regularly ranked among the top five NL first basemen over the past couple of seasons. Those spots are currently occupied by Los Angeles' Adrian Gonzalez, Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt, Chicago's Anthony Rizzo, St. Louis' Matt Adams and San Francisco's Brandon Belt. Fans can cast their votes for starters at MLB.com and all 30 club sites -- on their computers, tablets and smartphones -- using the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot until Thursday, July 2, at 11:59 p.m. ET. For the first time, voting is exclusively online, where fans may submit up to 35 ballots. Fans may also receive the ballot by texting VOTE to 89269 (USA) or 101010 (Canada). Or text VOTA for a ballot in Spanish. Message and data rates may apply. Up to five messages.