Ugly loss for Braves at Pirates: ‘We’re sloppy right now’

Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey pitched well enough in his Braves debut to give his team a chance and even chipped in with two RBIs. But his teammates let him down with lackluster defense and few timely hits of their own.

The Pirates beat the Braves 6-4 on Saturday while scoring three unearned runs against Dickey. The Braves (1-4) continued their early-seasons scuffles at the plate by hitting into four double plays.

The Braves took a lead on Dickey’s two-run single in the second inning and then gave it back with shoddy defense in the bottom of the inning. The Braves regained the lead in the third inning after the Pirates had their own fielding miscues, but gave the advantage right back again with more shaky defense.

And the Braves gave the Pirates (2-2) another run in the sixth when catcher Kurt Suzuki started having trouble handling Dickey’s unpredictable knuckleball.

“We are sloppy right now,” Dickey said. “I think, to a man, anyone in here would tell you the same thing. We are playing pretty good baseball if we just tighten it up a little bit.”

Dickey allowed just two earned runs through five innings. In the sixth Alen Hanson singled with one out, went to second on a wild pitch, took third on a passed ball and scored on another passed ball for a 5-3 lead.

“I thought Kurt did a good job under the circumstances because that (knuckleball) is a tough ride,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That thing is pretty good.”

After Dickey (0-1) walked consecutive batters, lefty Ian Krol replaced him and gave up an RBI single to Gregory Polanco that was charged to Dickey. He allowed nine hits, just one for extra bases, and three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings.

“It wasn’t like I was giving up missiles in the gaps,” Dickey said. “I felt pretty in control. (The knuckleball) was moving well and late, which is good this early in the season for me.”

The Braves tried to rally from the 6-3 deficit over the final two innings.

They scored a run in the eighth against right-hander Daniel Hudson. Brandon Phillips doubled off the center-field wall to lead off and Jace Peterson followed with a bunt single. Suzuki’s sacrifice fly scored Phillips but, after Tyler Flowers singled, Ender Inciarte and Dansby Swanson flied out.

Still down one run in the ninth, the Braves got an infield hit from Freddie Freeman. After lefty Tony Watson hit Nick Markakis with a pitch with one out, Phillips popped out and Chase d’Arnaud struck out to end the game.

The Braves squandered plenty of chances to score before that. They hit into three double plays over five innings against right-hander Chad Kuhl (1-0) and added another vs. reliever Felipe Rivero.

“We are just a couple big hits away from turning some of these games around,” Snitker said. “We’ve just got to stay the course and keep getting after it and eventually you get guys on base and balls start finding gaps. When that happens, then you get on a little run.”

The Braves’ first inning ended with Swanson getting caught off second base on Adonis Garcia’s line out. Phillips grounded into a double play in the third inning, before Peterson’s RBI triple, and Peterson grounded into another double play to end the fifth. Markakis grounded into a double play against Rivero to end the seventh.

The Braves went ahead 2-0 on Dickey’s first hit since the 2013 season. The Pirates answered with two runs during their next at-bat, one of them the result of an error by third baseman Garcia. He fielded Kuhl’s two-out bouncer cleanly but his throw was low and wide to first baseman Freeman, who couldn’t keep it in his glove.

Garcia reached base to lead off the third when Pirates center fielder Starling Marte and left fielder Gregory Polanco crossed signals on a fly ball that dropped in front of Marte. Garcia scored on Jace Peterson’s two-out triple for the 3-2 lead that didn’t last.