Bregman's solo blast a silver lining as Cubs drop Atlanta opener

ATLANTA -- Living through his players’ joy is where Cubs manager Craig Counsell finds reminders of his love of the game, especially when things aren’t going well.

In Tuesday’s 5-2 loss against the Braves at Truist Park, he must have found one of those moments through Alex Bregman in the fourth inning.

Bregman came into the night slashing .160/.300/.200 (8-for-50) with two extra-base hits over his past 14 games.

After grounding out in the first on the first pitch he saw, the third baseman waited until his second appearance at the plate and worked a full count before sending a solo shot, his fourth of homer the season, into the Cubs’ bullpen in left field to tie the game at 1 in the top of the fourth.

After seeing three straight sliders down and away, Bregman got an elevated four-seam fastball and drove it a Statcast-projected 374 feet at a 100.4 mph exit velocity. Unfortunately for the Cubs, that home run represented their only hit on the night.

Chicago had been held scoreless for 23 consecutive innings prior to that, going back to its series against the Rangers.

Braves starter Grant Holmes then issued three walks -- including two on four pitches -- to load the bases before a forceout by Moisés Ballesteros scored Ian Happ. A three-pitch strikeout of Dansby Swanson ended the threat.

Atlanta took the lead in the bottom of the fifth off a go-ahead two-run home run from Mike Yastrzemski, which followed a leadoff homer by Austin Riley. An RBI single by Matt Olson scored Drake Baldwin, who doubled earlier in the inning.