Phils blow 4-0 lead, fall to Braves in series opener
Through the first four innings of play tonight, the Phillies held a commanding 4-0 lead landlocked to be cruising toward a victory in the series opener against the Braves. Jeremy Hellickson looked in control tonight, but once the fifth inning came along the Braves got to him and tied the game up, scoring four runs in the inning. The game remained tied up until the top of the ninth, when the Braves struck for another big inning, scoring four runs off Jeanmar Gomez. The Phillies (60-74) did not get off to a good start in the final month of the season, as they surrendered eight unanswered runs to the last place Braves (52-83) in tonight’s 8-4 loss.
Ryan Howard recently spoke publicly about the fact that Tommy Joseph would see the majority of the playing time at first base here in September, but Howard got the start tonight and delivered early. Howard hit an RBI double to left in the first that got the Phillies on the board first. A.J. Ellis continues to impress in his first few games with the Phillies, as he delivered a big three-run homer to right field in the bottom of the second to put the Phillies up 4-0. An infield single and a three-run home run by Matt Kemp both in the fifth inning tied the game up at four. Freddie Freeman broke the tie with an RBI double in the top of the ninth to give the Braves the lead for the first time tonight. Two straight hits and a sacrifice fly broke the game wide open, and the four run deficit was too much for the Phillies. Kemp was the real star at the plate tonight, going 3 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs.
Hellickson had the Braves off balance for the early part of tonight’s game, but his command struggled in the fifth and he allowed the Braves to come back in this one. Hellickson wound up going six innings, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks. Gomez suffered the loss tonight for the Phillies as he entered the game in a 4-4 tie, and left with the Phillies down 8-4 and no outs in the inning. Gomez allowed four runs on four hits without recording an out. He suffers his third loss of the season and falls to 3-3 on the season with a 3.56 ERA. Braves starter Joel de la Cruz allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in five innings of work tonight, but did factor into the decision in tonight’s game. Mauricio Cabrera picked up the win for the Braves, as he pitched a scoreless eighth inning on the way to earning his third win of the season.
The Phillies and Braves will be back at it tomorrow night for the second of three games in this weekend series. Vince Velasquez (8-6, 4.21 ERA) will take the mound for the Phillies against Braves starter John Gant (1-3, 4.59 ERA) as the Phillies will look to even up the series at one game a piece. Velasquez has really had a rough go of it in the second half of his first full season and he may only have one or two more starts before he is shut down for the season, so a good outing tomorrow could do a lot for his confidence heading into the offseason.
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