Anderson takes no-hitter into 7th in win

Ian Anderson continued to make his case as the Braves' ace with another stellar performance Saturday night in Milwaukee

The rookie right-hander was firing on all cylinders, leading the Braves to a 5-1 victory against the Brewers at American Family Field after carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

"His fastball had good life on it. Kind of an old-school, over-the-top delivery which you don’t see a ton of nowadays,” said Brewers starter Brett Anderson. “For a young guy, he had some walks but was able to pitch out of it. Obviously, didn't give up many hits. He was definitely the better Anderson tonight, that’s for sure."

Before being replaced by A.J. Minter in the bottom of the seventh, Anderson was vying to pitch the Braves' first no-hitter since Kent Mercker in 1994. Instead, a bloop single by Daniel Vogelbach gave the Brewers their first hit of the game, leading to a sacrifice fly by Luis Urías to give the Crew their first and only run of the night.

Although a run scored, Minter was effective as usual and was able to limit the Brewers' offense and escape the inning with two runners on.

“I was thinking about it,” said Ian Anderson about the potential no-hitter. “Nowadays, there are scoreboards everywhere, but, I mean, honestly, I knew my pitch count was a little high, but A.J. did a great job coming in, shutting it down."

One of the keys to Anderson’s success on Saturday, just like with any pitcher, is the defense behind him. Anderson was able to force 10 groundouts, and with the Braves defense for support, it allowed him to attack the Brewers and force them to put the ball in play. Despite flirting with a no-hitter, Anderson’s four walks almost opened the door for a Brewers comeback.

Anderson finished with two hits allowed and four strikeouts in six-plus innings. He has been one of the most consistent arm in the Braves’ rotation, and now has a 3.20 ERA and a record of 3-1 through eight starts.

“I feel like I’ve had a good mix of pitches," Ian Anderson said. "And I feel like my command has been good, not necessarily being able to throw strikes, but I feel like when it's in the zone, it's in a place I need to put it for me to be effective.”

After some early injuries to Max Fried and Mike Soroka, Anderson has been able to fill the void in a depleted Braves rotation. Alongside Anderson, Huascar Ynoa has emerged in the Majors as a premier one-two punch from both sides of the ball. Due to a setback in Soroka's Achilles injury, he will have exploratory surgery and will not be returning to the rotation any time soon. So, that means Atlanta's young core will need to keep it up as the Braves await the return of some of their top players.

“It feels like all our young pitchers are like that, it's crazy to me," Freddie Freeman said. "When Soroka got here, it felt like he’s been in the big league for 10 years. Max, same way, Ian [also] and it's very impressive what they're doing.”

Along with Anderson’s dominant performance, the Braves also had a great day from the plate. In the top of the second inning with Ehire Adrianza on first, Freddie Freeman launched his 250th career home run to give the Braves a 4-0 lead.

After Urías cut into the Braves lead, Braves catcher William Contreras sucked the life out of American Family Field with a solo homer to center field in the eighth to push the Braves' lead back to four runs. After Travis d’Arnaud was placed on the 60-day IL due to a thumb injury, Contreras had big shoes to fill. However, Contreras has welcomed the challenge and is hitting .265./.359/.977 with three home runs.

“We’ve been all grinding offensively. For us to be 19-20 with how we played offensively the first six weeks, I think we’re pretty thankful for that,” Freeman said. “I think things are starting to click, the at-bats are better. We get Ronnie [Ronald Acuña Jr.] back in the lineup, hopefully, soon, so we can all start clicking and get on to a nice little roll.”

The Braves out-hit the Brewers 11-3 with Freeman, Contreras, Ozzie Albies, and Marcell Ozuna all having multi-hit games.

“I thought tonight was just a beautifully executed ballgame by us," Freeman added. “Just clean, [Anderson] was great, the bullpen was great, offense did their job and it's just a nice win, nice series win and, hopefully, we get that sweep tomorrow.”