Game Recap:
Down to their last out, the Phillies scored two runs thanks to a walk off single from Maikel Franco to give them a 4-3 win against the Atlanta Braves. The win was their third straight, and pushed Philadelphia's record to 8-9 on the season.
What went right?
Cesar Hernandez had another good game, going 2-5 with two runs scored.
Aaron Altherr kept up his recent hot streak, extending his hitting streak to six games with a 2-4 night at the plate. He also scored a run in the sixth inning.
Odubel Herrera was 2-5 with an RBI. He also had an excellent catch in the top of the seventh inning that kept the Phillies in front at the time.
Maikel Franco was the hero of the night. He finished the game 2-5 and had three RBI. His single in the bottom of the tenth inning with two outs gave the Phillies their third straight win.
Jerad Eickhoff pitched very well, despite only lasting five innings. He allowed a single run on two hits while striking out seven and walking two.
What went wrong?
Tommy Joseph went 0-3 at the plate, with a horrible strikeout in the bottom of the ninth inning, and had a terrible throw in the top of the tenth that ended with the go ahead run scoring for the Braves.
Freddy Galvis had a couple of nice defensive plays, but he also struck out on a terrible pitch in the ninth inning, and also was caught stealing third in the bottom of the seventh.
Cameron Rupp went 0-3 with another two strikeouts.
Michael Saunders went 0-4 with a strikeout.
Edubray Ramos pitched the ninth inning, and almost earned the save, but he gave up a solo home run to Brandon Phillips with two outs.
Game Analysis:
After last night's close win against the Braves, the last thing that the Phillies wanted was another white knuckle ride against the team from Georgia. Unfortunately, that's exactly what they got. Atlanta pitcher Jaime Garcia kept the Phillies off the scoreboard for the first five innings, and while Jerad Eickhoff pitched well, he wasn't able to match what Garcia did in six innings of work. Luckily, the Atlanta bullpen wasn't up to snuff, and the Phils scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The bullpen held on until the top of the ninth, when Edubray Ramos, who was trying to close because Hector Neris was not available, gave up a solo home run to Brandon Phillips.
After a very bad bottom of the ninth, which saw Tommy Joseph and Freddy Galvis both strike out on pitches not even close to the plate, the Braves went into the top of the tenth against Jeanmar Gomez. The former Phillies closer gave up a quick hit, and then surrendered all fault about the rest of the game when Tommy Joseph threw a follow up to a sacrifice bunt into the third base stands. With a runner on third, the Braves took advantage with two outs, as Dansby Swanson scored on an error by Maikel Franco. Fortunately for the Phillies, Gomez got out of the inning without allowing any more runs to score.
In the bottom of the tenth, Brock Stassi got things going with a single into right field. After back to back singles by Cesar Hernandez and Aaron Altherr, the bases were loaded with just one out. Odubel Herrera struck out on a bad pitch, but then Maikel Franco came to the plate, and he took care of business with a game winning, two run single into right field. As soon as the ball left the bat, everyone knew it was over, and the Phillies had won their third straight game, this one by a score of 4-3.
Let's not get too excited about this win, however. The Phillies again wasted another good start by Jared Eickhoff, and even though he struggled just a bit on the wet mound, it was good to see him pitch five innings in challenging conditions. The offense, of course, didn't do anything to support that effort, as the Phillies didn't score until the bottom of the sixth inning. That was when they were finally able to get to Jaime Garcia, who easily handled the Phillies through the first five innings of the game. After Garcia was gone, you would have hoped that the offense would have been better, but nothing else happened until the tenth inning.
For the Phillies, the bullpen was very solid until the ninth, but they did get some help in the field. Odubel Herrera robbed Dansby Swanson of a game tying hit in the top of the seventh with an outstanding catch. That catch ended up keeping this game as a possible win. At the same time, Herrera looked like he was taking it easy on the base paths tonight, and his strikeout in the bottom of the tenth inning wasn't the best looking swing he'd ever had.
Speaking of bad swings, both Tommy Joseph and Freddy Galvis looked very bad at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the game tied, either one of them could have started a rally, but both struck out on pitches that were well out of the strike zone. In the case of Tommy Joseph, a ball literally bounced in front of the plate before he swung at it. That's not a good look at all for a major league first baseman. Luckily for both players, and Joseph especially, the Phillies bailed them out in the bottom of the tenth, thanks to a clutch two run, two out single from Maikel Franco.
Tomorrow afternoon, the Phillies go for the sweep against the Braves. It will be Mike Foltynewicz (0-2, 426 ERA) going for Atlanta against Zach Eflin (0-0, 3.60 ERA).
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