When the Phillies have won games this season, they’ve either been blowouts or roller coaster rides. Tuesday night was the latter.
Tied 1-1 from very early, the Phils and Braves danced an awkward dance at SunTrust Park. The Phils made bad defensive plays. The Braves walked a lot of batters. The Phils gave up a few too many long fly balls caught deep in the outfield. The Braves got lucky with a ton of double-play balls.
Finally, in the 10th, the one player on the Phillies capable of turning on a dime did just that.
Rhys Hoskins slammed an opposite-field double to score two, giving the Phils a 3-1 lead. Two batters later Maikel Franco got going with his own two-bagger, also scoring two. That was the final, 5-1.
In all we saw another decent performance from Nick Pivetta, who handed in five frames of one-run ball with two strikeouts, plus a heck of a job of wiggling out of jams by the bullpen. Odubel Herrera had a nice day with one big catch, to boot. And now the Phillies are 10-6 with an opportunity of winning a series in Atlanta.
Do it.