Martin Perez struggles in return from injured list as Pirates drop opener to Braves

In theory, the Pittsburgh Pirates can find several positives in the return of lefty starter Martin Perez, who took the hill Friday in Atlanta vs. the Braves after spending the last month on the injured list.

Looking at the bigger picture, Perez’s presence solidifies a Pirates starting rotation that’s been short-handed of late, resulting in several bullpen games this month.

Perez back in the mix also allows for flexibility in managing the workloads of rookies Paul Skenes and Jared Jones.

Unfortunately for the Pirates (39-42), Perez was not sharp as his start unraveled early in an eventual 6-1 Braves win.

Perez (1-4, 5.28 ERA) was charged with the loss, lasting just four innings while allowing six runs on eight hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts.

A five-run bottom of the third proved to be his undoing.

“That’s a heavy and really good right-handed-hitting lineup, and we just left some balls up,” manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “First time back, just a little bit of rust. It didn’t look like (Perez) was as sharp as we’ve seen him in the past.”

Atlanta starter Charlie Morton (5-4, 3.89 ERA) pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings against his former club, allowing three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.

Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 24 games in the loss with an eighth-inning single through the middle of the infield.

Morton hit Reynolds with a pitch in the first inning and Reynolds grounded out and struck out in his ensuing at-bats, putting the longest active hitting streak in MLB at risk.

But Reynolds kept the streak alive against another former Pirate, Jesse Chavez, in his final at-bat of the game.

Perez ran into trouble in the bottom of the second inning, allowing a solo homer to Austin Riley that put Atlanta up 1-0.

In the third, the Braves loaded the bases with no outs as Luke Williams and Ozzie Albies singled and Jarred Kelenic drew a walk.

Then, disaster struck for Perez and the Pirates, with Marcell Ozuna ripping a bases-clearing double into the left-field corner to hand the Braves a 4-0 lead.

Atlanta then went up 5-0 when Matt Olson singled home Ozuna.

By the time Perez finally escaped the frame, the Braves were ahead 6-0 thanks to an RBI double by Adam Duvall.

Perez pitched a painless fourth, but his night ended after that with Daulton Jefferies taking over in the fifth.

“Just got to get ready for the next one, fix a couple things, be back in five days and do my job,” Perez said.

Meanwhile, Morton no-hit the opposition through 4 1/3 innings, with Ke’Bryan Hayes’ single in the fifth inning going for his club’s first of the evening.

“You see why this guy’s pitched 15 years in the big leagues,” Shelton said.

In the sixth, Andrew McCutchen led off with an infield hit off Morton, but the Pirates were unable to capitalize as Reynolds and Oneil Cruz struck out, with Rowdy Tellez softly grounding out ending the frame.

Nick Gonzales hit a ground-rule double to begin the seventh, but the Pirates stranded him.

Jefferies, who entered the game with an ERA of 14.90, put together a solid relief outing, delivering three scoreless innings.

After Connor Joe led off the ninth with a pinch-hit double, Hayes knocked him in with a double to break up the shutout.