Brewers bullpen snafu leads to 5-4 loss to Braves

ATLANTA (AP) — Ryan Doumit's pinch-hit single brought home two runs, capping a three-run seventh inning that carried the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night.

Manager Ron Roenicke took blame for relief pitcher Will Smith not having warmed up in the bullpen before coming in the game in the 7th inning.

With pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Lee Tunnell at high school graduations, Rick Tomlin, the organization's pitching coordinator, filled in; Roenicke says he should have told Tomlin to make the call to the bullpen to get Smith warmed up.  During a 10 minute challenge by the Braves (over reliever Zach Duke initially trotting in from the bullpen), Smith was not allowed to throw beyond the 8 warmup pitches he took on the mound.

The Braves trailed 4-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth.

B.J. Upton hit a two-out homer, barely clearing the right-field wall, and the Braves rallied for the win the next inning. Gerald Laird also had a key hit, a run-scoring double that ricocheted off an infielder's glove.

Jean Segura had three hits for Milwaukee and scored two runs, driven home both times by two-out hits from Jonathan Lucroy.

Alex Wood (4-5) worked a scoreless inning for the win, and Craig Kimbrel earned his 12th save.

Brandon Kintzler (1-2) took the loss, failing to retire the only batter he faced.

The Brewers had been 24-1 when scoring 4 or more runs.  They open a 3 game series in Miami Friday night.