ATLANTA _ The Atlanta Braves blew a 3-1 lead in the late innings Wednesday, but maybe just so they could celebrate another walk-off win.
Matt Kemp's two-run homer with one out in the 11th inning gave the Braves a 5-3 win against the San Francisco Giants, their third walk-off win in the past five days at SunTrust Park.
Nick Markakis drew a one-out walk against former Braves reliever Cory Gearrin before Kemp hit a fly ball to right field off Gearrin that initially looked like it might be caught, but just kept sailing for his seventh career walk-off homer.
The Braves have won six of their past nine games including two of the first three in a four-game series against the Giants, who've lost 17 of their past 22 games including six of seven on their current trip. The Braves can clinch a third consecutive series by winning Thursday's series finale.
When the Braves finally provided left-hander Sean Newcomb with a little run support Wednesday, the impressive rookie turned in another shining performance and was in line for his first major league win.
But after the Braves got six strong innings from Newcomb and built a 3-1 lead on home runs by Matt Adams in the fourth inning and Tyler Flowers in the seventh, the bullpen blew the lead when Arodys Vizcaino gave up a run on a wild pitch in the eighth inning and Jim Johnson gave up a tying homer to Hunter Pence in the ninth for Johnson's fifth blown save in 18 chances.
Newcomb allowed just three hits one run and one walk with three strikeouts in six innings, getting no decision in his third major league start after taking hard-luck losses in each of his first two when the Braves failed to score a run either time when he was in the game.
He retired the last 13 batters he faced and lowered his ERA to 1.96 ERA. Newcomb has a 2.01 ERA in his past 11 starts including eight at Triple-A.
Adams' two-run homer into the Giants bullpen beyond right-center field with one out in the fourth inning provided a 2-1 lead and gave the first baseman known as "Big City" a whopping 11 homers and 29 RBIs in 30 games since being traded to the Braves.
Nineteen of his 35 hits for the Braves have been extra-base hits and Adams has five homers and 14 RBIs in his past nine games.
Flowers pushed the lead to 3-1 in the seventh with a leadoff homer that bounced off the top of the fence in the left-field corner and was initially ruled a single after it caromed back onto the field. But upon further review, the umpires saw that the ball had bounced off a mesh fence behind the outfield wall before it came back on the field, and was thus a home run.
The game was delayed one hour and 15 minutes before the first pitch and Newcomb was replaced after throwing 80 pitches (59 strikes), easily his fewest in a start this season in the minors or majors. He's been both more effective and more efficient in the majors, working at least six innings in each of his three big-league starts after lasting as many as six innings just three times in 11 minor league starts.
San Francisco took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Hunter Pence singled and scored on Brandon Belt's two-out triple. Newcomb walked the next batter, Aaron Hill, then retired the last 13 he faced including perfect innings in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth.
The Giants reduced the lead to a run in the eighth when Denard Span hit a one-out triple off Vizcaino and scored on a two-out wild pitch, then tied the game on Pence's home run to straightaway center against Johnson with one out in the ninth, the second homer allowed by Johnson this season.
For Newcomb, Adams' homer provided the only two runs the Braves have scored while he has been in the game in his three starts. They failed to score while he was in his outstanding debut when he gave up four hits and one unearned run in 6 1/3 innings against the New York Mets, and didn't score while he was in his second start when he allowed five hits and three runs in six innings against the Miami Marlins.
He had his third consecutive "quality start" Wednesday and left with a 2-1 lead. But while he avoided another loss, his first win remained elusive.
