ATLANTA — Veteran left-hander Martin Perez pitched 5⅓ strong innings Wednesday against the Braves in his first start since a forearm injury derailed his first season with the White Sox, but the team still fell 1-0 on a down night for their feast-or-famine offense.
Perez didn’t allow a runner past first base until Marcell Ozuna lined a double off the left-field wall with one out in the fourth. Ozuna ended up scoring when shortstop Colson Montgomery couldn’t handle a grounder by Ozzie Albies that went for an error.
Manager Will Venable took the ball from Perez after he had struck out Matt Olson with his 74th pitch to open the sixth. Perez yielded only three hits, struck out five and walked none.
‘‘To me, he’s kind of like a three-point shooter,’’ Venable said. ‘‘He just needs to find his touch, and he’s locked in.’’
But a Sox offense that had put up 23 runs in the previous two nights mustered only four hits against Braves starter Hurston Waldrep and two relievers.
Perez, who signed a one-year deal with the Sox in January, pitched 3⅓ innings out of the bullpen last week in his first action since a forearm injury April 18 threatened his season, if not his career.
He said he wants to finish this season strong and come back to the South Side next year.
‘‘They know already,’’ Perez said. ‘‘I think next year’s going to be a good year for this organization. And if they give me the chance, I want to be part of the good years.’’
Picking his battles
Rookie catcher Edgar Quero caught former Cubs utility player Vidal Brujan sleeping at first base Tuesday, throwing a laser to first baseman Miguel Vargas, who tagged out Brujan to end a late Braves rally.
It was Quero’s MLB-leading fifth pickoff of the season, tying the team record set by Bill Nahorodny in 1978 with six weeks left in the season.
‘‘He’s just got great instincts,’’ Venable said.
Jack of all trades
When the Sox used a pinch hitter and took one of their two rookie catchers out of a game last weekend in Kansas City, Venable first had to make sure that utility player Brooks Baldwin was prepared to suit up behind the plate as the emergency backstop.
‘‘I said sure,’’ Baldwin recalled before manning right field Wednesday against the Braves.
And why wouldn’t he? The 25-year-old switch-hitter is the only player in the majors this season to start five or more games at six positions: second, third, short and all three outfield spots.
Baldwin also has shown some pop at the plate, with eight home runs and 27 RBI.
‘‘It’s in the tank there,’’ Baldwin said.
Rate Field South
Former Sox right-hander Dane Dunning struck out two in a clean inning out of the Braves’ bullpen Tuesday.
He’s one of five former Sox pitchers with the Braves, along with Aaron Bummer, Erick Fedde, Reynaldo Lopez and reigning National League Cy Young winner Chris Sale, who’s on a rehab assignment after breaking a rib.
‘‘I learned a lot from people like James McCann and [Lucas] Giolito, even Bummer,’’ said Dunning, whom the Sox dealt for right-hander Lance Lynn after their brief playoff run in 2020. “Just the way of going about things.
‘‘Jose Abreu was such a big presence in that locker room, but he treated everyone great. It doesn’t matter what stature you are, as long as you’re a good teammate, people want to have you around.’’
