ATLANTA _ It was a two-rookie debut night for the Braves with the Dodgers in town and a buzz in the crowd of more than 32,000 at SunTrust Park, large for an early week game in Atlanta against anyone other than the Cubs, Cardinals, Yankees or Red Sox.
Second baseman Ozzie Albies and starting pitcher Lucas Sims weren't enough to help the Braves end a losing streak that reached six games with Tuesday's 3-2 loss in a series opener against the Dodgers, but each left a good impression and the Braves made things interesting in the eighth when Albies drew a walk and another rookie, Johan Camargo, followed with a two-run homer.
The Braves had the potential tying run at third base when Freddie Freeman hit a soft flare to third base to end the eighth inning.
Sims had a quality start in his major league debut, allowing six hits and three runs in six innings with no walks and three strikeouts.
All the promise in the air and thoughts of a brighter future for the rebuilding Braves couldn't help them muster anything in seven scoreless innings against Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda (10-4), but they broke through against the usually rugged Dodgers bullpen in the eighth after a leadoff walk from Albies against Josh Ravin in Albies' third MLB plate appearance (he grounded out and flied out in the first two).
Camargo followed with his third home run to cut the lead to 3-2, and Brandon Phillips kept the rally going with a first-pitch pinch-hit single off left-hander Tony Watson. Phillips advanced on an Ender Inciarte sacrifice and went to third on a ground-out before Freeman ended the inning
Maeda didn't give up a hit until the fifth inning and limited the Braves to two hits and one walk with six strikeouts while not allowing a runner to reach second base. After Freeman drew a two-out walk in the first inning, the right-hander retired the next 10 batters before Tyler Flowers' leadoff single in the fifth.
The Braves have lost nine of 10 games since their shocking wins in the first two games of a four-game series at Dodger Stadium July 20-21, two of only seven losses for the Dodgers during a blistering 40-6 run since June 7 and their only consecutive losses in that period.
During that historically hot stretch, they rank first in the majors in home runs and ERA in that stretch and first in the National League in scoring and OPS.
They built a 3-0 lead against Sims with a run apiece in the third, fourth and fifth innings. The first of those might have been unearned if a leadoff double by Yasiel Puig in the third inning had been ruled an error by third baseman Danny Santana on a call that could've gone either way. One bunt later, Chris Taylor doubled for a 1-0 lead.
Cody Bellinger led off the fourth inning with a homer on a 2-2 pitch, the 29th for the overwhelming favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year.
The Dodgers added a run in the third when Puig led off with a single, moved up on a sacrifice, then stole third and came home on catcher Tyler Flowers' throwing error on the play.
Since scoring 18 runs those two wins against the Dodgers July 20-21, the Braves have lost nine of their past 10 and scored three runs or fewer seven times in that stretch.
And after sweeping the Diamondbacks in the first three games coming back from the All-Star break to get back to .500 at the 90-game mark, the Braves have lost 12 of 15 and scored three runs or fewer in 10 of those games including two runs or fewer in six games.
