Kemp’s 11th-ining homer gives Braves another walk-off win

Matt Kemp #27 of the Braves celebrates after hitting a walk-off two-run homer in the 11th inning for a 5-3 win over the San Francisco Giants at SunTrust Park on June 21, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Matt Kemp #27 of the Braves celebrates after hitting a walk-off two-run homer in the 11th inning for a 5-3 win over the San Francisco Giants at SunTrust Park on June 21, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Braves blew a 3-1 lead in the late innings Wednesday, perhaps just so they could dump another cooloer of Powerade on someone while celebrating another walk-off win.

Matt Kemp got the blue-liquid shower this time after hitting a two-run homer with one out in the 11th inning to give the Braves a 5-3 win against the San Francisco Giants, their third walk-off win in the past five days at SunTrust Park.

“Like I keep saying, they never quit,” said manager Brian Snitker, whose Braves lead the National League with six walk-off wins and lead the majors with 12 wins in their final at-bat. “I mean, they’re in this thing, they just grind through at-bats, games, picking each other up. They just keep coming at you. Never down, never out. It’s kind of fun to watch.”

All of the Braves’ runs came via homers, with Matt Adams and Tyler Flowers taking Giants starter Jeff Samardzija out of the park for a 3-1 lead before the bullpen faltered and kept Atlanta rookie Sean Newcomb from a would-be first win.

It was just after midnight when Nick Markakis drew a one-out walk against former Braves reliever Cory Gearrin, before Kemp hit a fly ball to right field off Gearrin that initially looked like it might be caught, but kept sailing for the veteran’s seventh career walk-off homer and first since 2012.

The Braves have won six of nine games including two of the three in a four-game series against the stumbling Giants, who’ve lost 17 of 22 games including six of seven on their current trip. The Braves can clinch a third consecutive series in Thursday night’s finale before the NL Centra-leading Brewers come to town for a weekend series.

When the Braves finally provided Newcomb with a little run support Wednesday, the impressive left-hander turned in another shining performance and was in line for his first major league win.

But after the Braves got six strong innings from Newcomb and home runs from Adams with a runner on in the fourth inning and Flowers in the seventh, the bullpen blew the lead when Arodys Vizcaino gave up a run on a wild pitch in the eighth and Jim Johnson gave up a tying homer to Hunter Pence in the ninth, Johnson’s fifth blown save in 18 chances.

Newcomb allowed just three hits one run and one walk with three strikeouts in six innings, lowering his ERA to 1.96 and getting no decision in his third major league start, after taking hard-luck losses in each of his first two when the Braves failed to score a run either time when he was in the game.

“You’ve got to like what you see out of that kid,” Snitker said. ” I mean, he’s competing. He’s getting after it. I see him getting down that hill (mound). It’s great to see. I wish we could have got him that first win.”

Newcomb retired the last 13 batters he faced and has a 2.01 ERA in his past 11 starts including eight at Triple-A.

The game was delayed one hour and 15 minutes before the first pitch and Newcomb was replaced after throwing 80 pitches (59 strikes), easily his fewest in a start this season in the minors or majors. Snitker said he made that decision solely because he didn’t like the matchups with veteran right-handed hitters Buster Posey and Pence due up to star the seventh in what would’ve been their third time facing Newcomb.

“I just kind of felt he had done his job and who he was fixing to face third time around the order, just didn’t have a good feeling in my gut right there,” Snitker said. “One of those decisions I made today, may not make it the next time.”

Adams’ two-run homer into the Giants bullpen beyond right-center field with one out in the fourth inning provided a 2-1 lead and gave the first baseman known as “Big City” a whopping 11 homers and 29 RBIs in 30 games since being traded to the Braves. Nineteen of his 35 hits for the Braves have been extra-base hits and Adams has five homers and 14 RBIs in his past nine games.

“You feel good every time he comes to the plate,” Snitker said. “He’s just making the most of a really good opportunity for him. Can’t say enough about what he’s done.”

Flowers pushed the lead to 3-1 in the seventh with a leadoff homer that bounced off the top of the fence in the left-field corner and was initially ruled a single after it caromed back onto the field. Upon further review, the umpires saw that the ball had bounced off a mesh fence behind the outfield wall before it came back on the field, and was thus a home run.

Flowers was only at first base because he initially had thought the ball was going well outside the foul pole.

“As I watched it not too far past third base I thought it was 10-plus feet foul and hooking,” he said. “And then it kind of kept getting closer and closer (to the pole). Thank goodness it went out, not just to get a home run but to not end up with a single. Something like that, that’s more the embarrassing part. (He laughed.) But Buster kind of confirmed that it was 10-plus feet foul and then it just kind of came back.”

San Francisco took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Pence singled and scored on Brandon Belt’s two-out triple. Newcomb walked the next batter, Aaron Hill, then retired everyone else he faced before leaving the game.

“In that second inning I didn’t really do anything that set me back,” Newcomb said. “I threw a fastball in to Belt. He just kind of ambushed it a little bit, it was at his sweet spot. But I just settled in throwing all my pitches pretty quality. Working my fastball pretty well.”

The Giants reduced the lead to a run in the eighth when Denard Span hit a one-out triple off Vizcaino and scored on a two-out wild pitch, then tied the game on Pence’s home run to straightaway center against Johnson with one out in the ninth, the second homer allowed by Johnson this season.

Adams’ homer provided the only two runs the Braves have scored while Newcomb has been in a game in his three starts. He’s pitched at least six innings each time and lost twice despite giving up totals of just 12 hits and four earned runs in 18 1/3 innings.

He had his third consecutive quality start Wednesday and left with a 2-1 lead and while he avoided a third loss, his first win remained elusive.