Braves Vs. Phillies Series Recap
Braves take 2 of 3 from the Phillies
This past weekend, the Atlanta Braves took on the Philadelphia Phillies in a division showdown between the two heavyweights. The series would not disappoint, for Braves fans as Braves starters only allowed 6 earned runs through 3 games, 5 of which were off of Max Fried. In this series, the Braves would put up 17 runs across 3 games, and would blast 9 home runs, 2 coming from both Albies and Ozuna. In this article, I will go over the highlights of each game and what went right for the Braves.
Friday
Starting off with Friday, an alleged pitchers' duel with Max Fried toeing the slab for Atlanta and Aaron Nola going for Philadelphia. The game would go scoreless until the fourth inning when the Phillies would push three runs as Bryson Stott would ground into a double play after two Phillies singles and Johan Rojas would score, then Trea Turner would connect for a two-run shot making it 3-0 Phillies. In the bottom of the fourth the Braves would have Ozzie Albies single, and Austin Riley connects with a two run home-run, cutting the Phillies lead to one. The bottom of the sixth would see another Trea Turner home-run as Turner would hit his second two-run homer of the night, making it 5-2 Phillies. Ozzie Albies would continue his great night at the plate and would connect for a solo home-run, making it 5-3 Phillies. The top of the seventh would see the Phillies score three unanswered runs, as the Braves defense would commit three costly errors, allowing three runs to score on those errors. The inning would go double, error, single/E1, steal/E5. The Phillies would have an 8-3 lead before the Braves would come try to chip away after Ozzie Albies singled, Austin Riley walked, and Marcell Ozuna would hit a three-run homer, to make the score 8-6 as the Phillies would win by that score.Â
A couple positives to take away from the Friday game is the Braves offense did not roll over and play dead. They put the bat on the ball with some authority, hitting 11 balls over 95 MPH. The only negative besides the errors was Max Fried did not look as sharp. In this game he went (6IP, 11H, 5ER, 1BB, 4K). This was the first game Fried had allowed over ten hits since April 6, against Arizona when he went (4.1IP, 10H, 7ER, 1BB, 5K). Before this start, Fried had given up twelve hits in his last two starts combined.Â
Notable Hitters:
Ozzie Albies- 3/4 (HR)
Austin Riley- 1/3 (HR, 2 RBI)
Marcell Ozuna- 1/4 (HR, 3 RBI)
Saturday
On Saturday, the Braves took on Ranger Saurez who had a 2.27 ERA coming into the game on Saturday. Opposing Saurez would be Spencer Schwellenbach who has yet to allow over two walks in a single start, and is in the 99th percentile in chase%. Schwellenbach would start the game off by sitting the Phillies down in order. The Braves would come up in the bottom of the first and come out of the games swinging. Jarred Kelenic would hit a ground-rule double, and would be singled in by Ozzie Albies. Marcell Ozuna would crank one straight away center to give the Braves the 3-0 lead. In the top of the third, the Phillies would get a pair of singles and Trea Turner would collect a single himself, driving in Johan Rojas. In the bottom of the fifth Jarred Kelenic would single, and Ozzie Albies would send one over the left field fence to give the Braves a 5-1 lead and they would win by that score. Spencer Schwellenbach would go 6IP, scattering 7 hits, while only allowing 1 ER, and striking out 6.Â
Notable Hitters:
Jarred Kelenic- 2/4
Ozzie Albies- 2-4 (HR, 3 RBI)
Marcell Ozuna- 2/4 (HR, 2 RBI)
Sunday
The Sunday matinee game would be Reynaldo Lopez Vs Michael Mercado. Mercado wouldn’t make it out of the second inning, as the Braves would tally five hits, five runs, and three home-runs off Mercado before being pulled after 1.2 IP. The Braves would score on an Adam Duvall solo shot, a Jarred Kelenic three-run homer, and at Matt Olson solo home-run all in the second inning. Eli White would mussel a solo shot himself in the sixth inning to make the score 6-0 as the Braves would win by that score.
Although, it was a great weekend for the Braves on both sides of the ball. The Braves have needed to get hot and there is no perfect time to get hot than against your division rivals and take a series from them. The Braves are now 4-2 against the Phillies this year, and will play a three-game series in Atlanta, and a four-game series in Philadelphia after the All-Star Game. Atlanta is currently 49-39, ten games over .500.Â
Notable Hitters:
Jarred Kelenic- 1/3 (HR, 3 RBI)
Matt Olson- 1/4 (HR, 1 RBI)
Adam Duvall- 3/4( HR, 1 RBI)
Eli White- 2/4 (HR, 1 RBI)
Reynaldo Lopez (6IP, 2H, 3BB, 6K)