If Dan Uggla’s streak was to end at 33 games, he would’ve preferred that it happened in a win, or at least a well-played loss in which his Braves came from behind before falling short.
Uggla’s Atlanta Braves-record hitting streak ended Sunday in an ugly 6-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Turner Field, a game that was neither well played nor tempered by any positive developments for the home nine.
The Cubs, trailing 4-0 through five innings, came back to beat the Braves despite making four errors and striking out 18 times without drawing a walk.
“The streak is one thing; I’m more disappointed in the loss,” said Uggla, who went 0-for-3 with two pop-ups, a groundout and a sacrifice fly. “It was a fun run, but all things have got to come to an end at some time.
“We were on a nice little roll as a team, and we’re looking to get back on track tomorrow.”
The Braves lost two of three games to the Cubs and fell nine behind Philadelphia in the National League East. Atlanta’s wild-card lead is down to four games over the San Francisco Giants, who arrive for a four-game series at Turner Field beginning Monday night.
Braves starter Brandon Beachy, who pitched a shutout until the Cubs’ four-run sixth inning, said the next two series – at home against the Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks – would have even more importance after Sunday’s disappointment.
“We’ve got seven games coming up against two teams that are chasing us in the wild card,” he said. “We can really make a statement with these next seven games, and we expect to.”
Uggla hit .370 with 15 homers and 32 RBIs during his 33-game streak, the longest hitting streak in the majors this season and third longest by a second baseman in major league history.
On Sunday, however, he and the rest of the Braves couldn’t muster an extra-base hit. The Cubs erased a 4-0 deficit with a four-run sixth inning, then took a 6-5 lead on Carlos Pena’s two-run homer in the seventh off Eric O’Flaherty.
The Cubs made four errors in the first six innings, and three of the Braves’ runs were unearned. They were just 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position, and left at least one runner on base in four of the first six innings.
“You’ve got to be able to capitalize on that, and we didn't,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “But you’ve got to give those guys [Cubs] a little credit, also.”
Beachy had eight strikeouts through five innings, permitting only four singles and no walks allowed to that point. When he gave up two more singles and a Pena sacrifice fly to the first three batters in the sixth, Gonzalez went to the bullpen.
“I felt fine, felt in control,” said Beachy, who threw 102 pitches. “Like I told you last time, there’s never going to be one time in my career that I want to come out of an inning with runners on.”
Gonzalez brought in veteran Scott Linebrink, who was activated from the disabled list Sunday and returned without going on a minor-league rehab assignment.
In his first time facing hitters since July 29, Linebrink gave up three consecutive singles without getting an out, including Tyler Colvin’s two-RBI hit through the right side of the infield.
With the Braves' lead down to 4-3, Gonzalez brought in rookie Arodys Vizcaino to replace Linebrink, who heard some boos from a crowd of 32,011.
Asked if Linebrink was rusty, Gonzalez said, “Yeah, maybe a little bit. But there were some bright spots there, with Vizcaino coming into that situation and getting out of that jam.”
Hard-throwing Vizcaino struck out all three batters he faced in the sixth. He struck out Blake DeWitt for the would-be third out, but DeWitt advanced to first on a third-strike pitch that got past catcher Brian McCann. It was the second wild pitch of the DeWitt at-bat, the other one letting in the tying run.
McCann also was activated from the DL Sunday after being out with a strained oblique.
O’Flaherty had a 1.02 ERA and one homer allowed all season until the seventh inning, when he gave up a Darwin Barney leadoff single and a one-out shot to the right-field seats by Pena to put the Cubs ahead, 6-5.
The Braves had just one baserunner in the final three innings on a two-out walk by Michael Bourn in the ninth. He stole second to put the potential tying run in scoring position, but Martin Prado got fooled on a pitch and popped out to end the game.
