MILWAUKEE — First baseman Freddie Freeman went 3-for-3 and hit his first two home runs of the season, and the Atlanta Braves earned a 5-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night at Miller Park.
The Braves were held scoreless in each of their previous two games against Milwaukee, including Monday’s season opener, and they were shut out in six of the previous 10 meetings.
Brewers right-hander Kyle Lohse (0-1) extended the scoreless streak to 22 consecutive innings through the fourth Tuesday. He was an out away from making it 23 when right fielder Jason Heyward belted a two-run homer, giving Atlanta a 2-1 lead.
Freeman added to Atlanta’s advantage with solo homers in the sixth and eighth innings, the first off Lohse, the second off left-handed reliever Zach Duke.
Aside from the home runs, Lohse’s 2014 debut was good. He went seven innings and gave up five hits and two walks while striking out eight.
Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez gave Lohse an early lead, sending left-hander Alex Wood’s first offering to dead center for his first home run of the season.
Wood (1-0) settled in after that and also worked through the seventh, holding Milwaukee scoreless the rest of the way while allowing five hits and three walks and striking out five.
Gomez prevented the Braves from tying the game in the fourth, fielding Dan Uggla’s double at the wall and rifling a spot-on throw to shortstop Jean Segura, whose relay got to catcher Jonathan Lucroy in plenty of time to catch first baseman Freddie Freeman and end the inning.
Milwaukee third baseman Aramis Ramirez made it 4-2 with an RBI single in the eighth — his third hit of the day — but shortstop Andrelton Simmons restored the three-run lead with a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth.
Braves right-hander Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the bottom of the inning for his first save of the season.
NOTES: Atlanta lost nine of its previous 10 games at Miller Park and was 2-8 in the previous 10 meetings with Milwaukee overall. … Braves SS Andrelton Simmons has a .296 average (8-for-27) in eight career games at Miller Park after going 0-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly. … Sixteen of the Brewers’ first 19 games this season come against teams that won at least 94 games and qualified for the playoffs last season. … The Braves’ decimated pitching staff got encouraging news Tuesday. LHP Mike Minor, RHP Gavin Floyd and RHP Ervin Santana are all scheduled to make minor league starts this week, with Santana expected to be ready to join the major league club around April 14.