This time, a 10-run inning favored the Braves. And they needed every bit of the offense Sunday night.
Every player in the lineup scored during the Braves’ 10-run second inning that led them past the Phillies in a 12-10 slug fest at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves avoided the sweep and split their season series with the Phillies, 5-5.
“I knew when we scored 10 that early in the game, that it had a really good chance of being (a crazy game),” manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s too much ground (innings) to cover in a ballpark like this. I’d rather score runs like that in the seventh inning when you don’t have that many outs to cover, because I’ve been on the other end of that and won games like that also.”
Phillies starter Jake Arrieta recorded just four outs, including one in the preposterous second frame. The top of the inning began with a weak grounder from Nick Markakis in a scoreless game. It ended with the Braves up double-digit runs.
Adam Duvall provided the first hit of the frame. Austin Riley followed with a double, his first of two extra-base hits in the second, that scored Duvall. Johan Camargo singled and Ronald Acuna walked to load the bases.
Dansby Swanson’s walk made it 2-0. Freddie Freeman singled, scoring two more runs, before advancing to second on a fumbled ball by Phil Gosselin in left field. Marcell Ozuna followed with a single that scored the fifth run.
The Phillies lifted Arrieta, who threw 46 pitches and allowed seven consecutive Braves to reach base to end his night. Travis d’Arnaud singled off reliever David Hale to score Freeman, who was the seventh and final charged run to Arrieta.
It didn’t get better for Hale, a former Brave and new Phillie. Markakis doubled off him to score d’Arnaud. Riley came up again and homered to cap the 10-run masterpiece.
As it turned out, the Braves couldn’t go into cruise control. The Phillies scored six runs in the third, each charged to newcomer Tommy Milone, who had a terrible debut with the Braves, and the game was quickly competitive again at 10-7.
Credit: Atlanta Braves
Notes from Sunday:
- Maybe Sunday’s performance was due to Milone’s hectic day, when he flew from Buffalo to Philadelphia and made it in time to start for his new team. But it was a rough start to his Braves tenure.
“I was supposed to do my job,” Milone said. “It didn’t work out today. I’m not chalking it up to the whirlwind of a day it was. I still felt OK. I just didn’t get the job done.
“Part of it is, sometimes the kind of pitcher I am, I can throw too many strikes. And with an aggressive team, those are the teams that usually hurt me. The ones that are aggressive and I’m throwing strikes. Maybe I’m not completely on the corners. Anytime anybody can hit the ball in play, it has the opportunity to be a hit whether it’s hit hard or not. Sometimes those games happen and that’s what happened today, I think.”
The Braves officially acquired the left-hander earlier in the day, praising him as a player who throws strikes and could consistently eat innings. Well, he didn’t issue a walk Sunday, but he allowed seven runs on eight hits in only 2-1/3 innings. Spotted a 10-run lead, Milone had almost given it all back in four outs time.
“That’s a really busy day for a guy,” Snitker said of Milone’s past 24 hours. “You find out late (Saturday) night, you’re probably getting ready to go to bed, that you’re getting traded. You get up, get on a plane. I applaud him for wanting to take the ball in that situation.”
It’s one outing under suboptimal circumstances, but it’s nonetheless discouraging. Regardless of how Milone fared, the Braves are seeking more pitching help ahead of Monday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline.
- Riley was the Braves’ offensive star. His double and home run in the second continued his recent surge. Entering the night, Riley hit .355/.394/.581 with two homers and six RBIs in his past nine games. For much of the season, Riley’s improved approach wasn’t translating to numbers. It’s finally yielding results as the Braves enter September.
- Reliever A.J. Minter was the unsung hero. The Phillies drew back-to-back walks against Luke Jackson to start the fourth. An out later, Jean Segura’s single scored their seventh run. Snitker pulled Jackson for Minter, who retired the next five Phillies (four via strikeout) to halt their momentum.
“You want to come in when the pressure is on,” Minter said. “You want to come in when runners are on base and go get out of the inning. It was good for me to come in a throw strikes and attack hitters, just let the ball land wherever it goes.”
Snitker added: “That was huge, huge. To stop that and go out and cover the next inning was even bigger. That was huge what he did.”
- Acuna left the game as a precaution in the second inning with a right hamstring tightness. The Braves are hopeful he’ll be in Monday’s lineup. Acuna sustained the irritation while in the outfield, Snitker said.
- The Braves turned a phenomenal double play from Segura in the ninth. Closer Mark Melancon induced a grounder to short, where Swanson turned and fielded the ball cleanly. He fired to Camargo at second, who relayed the ball to a stretched-out Freeman.
“That was as good as it gets right there,” Snitker said. “How Dansby got squared around and Freddie, that was a great play by him, too. In that kind of game, that’s huge.”
- In finishing Sunday’s game, Melancon earned his 200th career save. He’s the seventh active major leaguer to reach that mark, joining Craig Kimbrel, Fernando Rodney, Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman, Joakim Soria and Greg Holland.
- The Phillies dipped back under .500 with the loss (14-15), meaning the Braves are again the only National League East team with a winning record (19-14). The Phillies and Marlins are tied for second place at three games back.
- The Braves open a three-game series in Boston on Monday. Max Fried will face Red Sox right-hander Colten Brewer (0-2, 4.57 ERA). The last-place Red Sox are 12-22 and one of the few aggressive sellers at the trade deadline.
