The Atlanta Braves started tonight’s play tied with the Washington Nationals for the division lead in the NL East. With a 6-4 victory over the reeling Phillies Friday night, the Braves stand alone at the top of the division with a 1-game lead.
The key to the Braves' success tonight was the offense's ability to hit with 2-outs. Atlanta’s lineup tallied ten total hits, nine of which were with 2-outs. Every player reached base tonight, it seemed the offensive momentum they gained before the break carried on in game one of the second half.
After Ervin Santana allowed two runs in the top of the second inning, the Braves offense, including Santana, were able to quickly respond with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Jason Heyward led off the bottom of the second inning with a solo blast to right field.
After Johnson and La Stella were retired it seemed that singular run was all the lineup was going to muster in that inning. But Christian Bethancourt led the 2-out rally with a single to left, followed by a bloop single to right field by pitcher Ervin Santana. B.J. Upton quickly drove in Bethancourt with a first pitch double to left field to tie the game at two. Before Phillies starting pitcher A.J. Burnett could catch his breath, Andrelton Simmons jumped on the first pitch to drive in two more runs making it 4-2 Atlanta.
The Braves offense continued the 2-out theme in the fifth inning when Justin Upton poked a double past first baseman Ryan Howard into the right field corner. Three straight singles by Heyward, Johnson, and La Stella scored two more runs giving Atlanta a 6-2 lead. These runs would prove to be crucial later on in the game.
Braves right hander Ervin Santana was by no means on top of his game but he was able to grind it out and pick up his eighth win of the season. Santana went six innings allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits, while walking three batters and striking out one. In fairness to Santana two of those runs were thanks to the fielding error by Freddie Freeman.
The underlining strength for Santana tonight was the ground ball. Ten of his eighteen recorded outs were via the groundball. Santana was also able to induce two double plays, none bigger than the one in the second inning when he was able to get A.J. Burnett to ground the ball to first baseman Freddie Freeman on a 3-2 count.
The Braves bullpen was excellent one again throwing three shutout innings to seal the deal. Luckily for Jordan Walden, his defense picked him up in the eighth inning after a leadoff walk. Rookie catcher Christian Bethancourt showed off his skills with this play.
And let’s not forget about Gold Glove right fielder Jason Heyward.
Coming into tonight Phillies starter A.J. Burnett had a career record of 5-12 against the Braves with a 3.90 ERA. His numbers at Turner Field are worse as Burnett has an abysmal record of 1-9 with a 5.32 ERA. With those numbers Burnett seemed to have no chance as the Braves have been playing well winning 15 of their last 21 games.