Braves 7, Phillies 4: Rookie Christian Bethancourt recorded three hits, two RBIs and scored twice as Atlanta pulled away from visiting Philadelphia to salvage the finale of their three-game series.
B.J. Upton belted a two-run homer for the Braves, who pulled within a half-game of Milwaukee for the National League’s second wild-card spot. Ervin Santana (14-7) battled through six frames, allowing four runs on seven hits, to earn the victory before Craig Kimbrel came on to notch his major league-leading 42nd save in the ninth inning.
Grady Sizemore contributed a two-run blast, Ben Revere had three hits and Chase Utley registered two sacrifice flies for the Phillies. Mario Hollands (2-2) gave up one run in two-thirds of an inning to suffer the loss in relief before leaving the game with left elbow soreness in the fifth.
Freddie Freeman led off the fifth with a double, after video review overturned the original out call at second, and scored on Bethancourt’s two-out single for a 5-4 lead. The Braves, who posted just one run in their previous four games combined, added a pair in the sixth on a two-out RBI single by Tommy La Stella and a wild pitch.
Utley’s sacrifice fly gave the Phillies a lead in the first before Bethancourt delivered an RBI single and Upton launched his 10th home run to left-center in the second. Philadelphia responded in the third when Revere singled and Sizemore lined a 2-1 pitch into the right-field seats for a 3-3 tie.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Atlanta LF Justin Upton was held out of the lineup with a bruised left triceps after being hit by a pitch in Tuesday’s game. … Philadelphia starter RHP David Buchanan, an Atlanta native, yielded four runs (one earned) on three hits and four walks over four innings. … The Braves improved to 52-19 when they hit a home run.
Philadelphia | Atlanta | |
David Buchanan | Player | Ervin Santana |
No Decision | W/L | Win |
4.0 | IP | 6.0 |
2 | Strikeouts | 4 |
3 | Hits | 7 |
2.25 | ERA | 6.00 |
Philadelphia | Atlanta | |
Ben Revere | Player | Christian Bethancourt |
3 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 2 |
0 | HR | 0 |
4 | TB | 3 |
.600 | Avg | .750 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Philadelphia | 8 | 1 | 13 | .250 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Atlanta | 7 | 1 | 11 | .233 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 |