Braves 8 Phillies 0
Freddie Freeman hit a two run home run in the third inning against Spencer Howard.
Ronald Acuna Jr led off the fifth inning with a home run to right field. Freddie Freeman tripled and with two outs in the inning the skipper took the baseball from Howard.
Trevor Kelley relieved and gave up a double to Travis D’Arnaud that scored Freeman for the Braves fourth run.
Spencer Howard went 4 2/3 innings in his big league debut - 4 R, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 K’s ... he didn’t have the consistent wipeout curve we’ve seen in the minors today but did throw his fastball consistently in the 94-95 range with the movement we’ve seen, his slider was flat at times but at times he did rip off some good ones as well ... an ok first game ... something to build from.
The Phillies loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth on a hit, walk and HBP but Bryce Harper flew out to center to end the inning.
Ronald Acuna Jr hit a two run home run in the sixth against Kelley to make it 6-0 ATL.
Austin Davis came in to replace Kelley with two outs in the fifth ... Davis gave up a double to Freeman that scored another run. Marcel Ozuna singled to score Freeman.
Kelley was charged with three runs on four hits and also allowed an inherited runner to score.
Max Fried went five shutout frames for Atlanta - 4 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 6 K’s.
Austin Davis went 1 1/3 innings and was charged with one run on three hits ... he also allowed an inherited runner to score.
Record is now 4-6
Atlanta is 11-6
Notes :
Acuna Jr had the first four hit game of his career. Freddie Freeman had a double, triple and home run.
The Phillies were held to four hits in the game ( two by Rhys Hoskins ) ... Scott Kingery broke an 0 for 12 with a single ... the team had just three hits in the first game ... ain’t gonna win many with seven hits in fourteen innings 🤦♂️
The Phillies left six runners on base in the game ... coupled with seven the first game a total of thirteen for the day.
Very deflating day for the Phillies ... they’ve put themselves in a hole to potentially lose three of the four games in the series to a top division rival ... something that cannot be afforded in a short season ... very frustrating.
Just me perhaps ... I really think that strengthening the bullpen with young hurlers Damon Jones and Connor Brogdon is the right move to make right now ... just saying 🤔🤷♂️
