Phillies see chance at catching Atlanta’s NL East lead dwindle following 10-run loss to Braves
The Braves had scored eight runs in the fourth inning, with seven of those runs coming while they sat with two outs.
ATLANTA — Bryson Stott had a brief moment of hesitation.
As the ground ball bounced into his glove at third base, he paused to take a peek over at second. But Braves outfielder Mauricio Dubón was already sliding in, and it was clear Stott’s only play would be across the diamond.
After he double-clutched, Stott’s throw to first was low, and Alec Bohm couldn’t come up with it off the hop. Yet another run scored for Atlanta as Stott was charged with his fourth error of the year.
And the inning began to spiral completely out of control.
The Braves exploded for eight runs in the fourth on Saturday, en route to a 12-2 rout of the Phillies that all but dashed their hopes of catching the National League East leaders. Seven of those runs came with two outs in the inning.
“Obviously, that’s a really good team over there,” Bryce Harper said. “They’re pitching the ball really well right now, hitting in timely situations. But also, we got baseball to play, so we can’t get down. We can’t wonder what’s going to happen or what ifs. We just got to keep playing.”
Scratching Jesús Luzardo, one of the NL’s most dominant pitchers, the night before and replacing him with a bullpen game was always going to make securing a win on Saturday a tall task. But the Phillies were hardly even competitive.
The fourth-inning meltdown completely erased the work done by Tim Mayza, who was billed as an opener but was efficient enough to complete three scoreless innings for the first time this season. Mayza used 31 pitches to face the minimum, as the infield turned two double plays to erase the only two hits he allowed.
Bryce Harper even gave him a lead to work with, responding to the resounding boos from the Braves fans with a first-inning homer off Tyler Mahle, 426 feet to straightaway center.
But once Brooks Raley took over in the fourth, Ronald Acuña matched that with a homer of his own, right in the visitors’ bullpen in left field. Raley had been one of three Phillies pitchers charged with a blown save in Friday’s 11-inning loss, and the veteran left-hander also took the loss when Drake Baldwin walked him off.
Raley didn’t fare much better Saturday. He managed to secure two outs, but still left runners on the corners for Grant Holman, the next man up in the bullpen.
Holman had been added to the Phillies roster after it expanded on Sept. 1, taking the extra pitcher slot. But since then, he had waited in the bullpen for 11 days to be called on.
If Stott had made a higher throw on the grounder from Sean Murphy, or if Bohm had been able to pick it, the Phillies would have kept Atlanta’s lead to a manageable 3-1. But instead, Murphy was safe at first and the inning continued. A walk, a wild pitch, and two more hits later, and the Braves had run up the score to 8-1 before Holman finally stopped the bleeding with a fly out.
Because of the error, none of the runs he allowed were earned.
Justin Crawford homered in the eighth. The Phillies put backup catcher Garrett Stubbs on the mound in the bottom of the inning and he surrendered a three-run shot to Michael Harris II.
The Phillies and Braves are set to square off again this weekend in Atlanta, so it's the perfect time to check in with Jeff Francoeur, who played for both teams and calls Braves games on TV and radio. Francoeur joined Phillies Extra to help break down the race for NL East supremacy. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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