Franco's walk-off hit sends Phils home happy

By Theo DeRosa, Sports Talk Philly staff

Final: Phillies 4, Braves 3 (10 innings)

PHILADELPHIA — After the Phillies served up the tying run in the ninth and the go-ahead run in the tenth, the optimism drained from Citizens Bank Park right along with what was left of the crowd.

Maikel Franco made it worthwhile for those who stayed.

His two-out, two-run single to the right-field wall in the tenth inning gave the Phillies a surprising, and dramatic, 4-3 win over the Braves on Saturday night.

WP: Jeanmar Gómez (2-1, 9.95) ❖ LP: Jim Johnson (2-1, 3.52)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
ATL	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	6	0
PHI	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	4	11	3

Jerad Eickhoff's short stint on Saturday was foreshadowed by a first inning in which he found it hard to throw strikes. Eickhoff fell behind several batters, walked Freddie Freeman and allowed a single to Matt Kemp, but got out of the first with 23 pitches.

Freeman continued his red-hot start in 2017 with another walk in the fourth inning. He stole second on a looping Eickhoff curveball before Brandon Phillips drove him in on a full-count double down the right-field line that put the Braves on the board first.

Joely Rodríguez replaced Eickhoff after 97 pitches in five innings, and faced the minimum in the sixth. Rodríguez induced a 1-6-3 double play and fielded another comebacker on the mound to get his outs.

In the bottom of the sixth, César Hernández and Aaron Altherr each continued their excellent seasons. Hernández singled and Altherr doubled; Odúbel Herrera then shot a single up the middle to tie the game. Maikel Franco brought home Altherr on a forceout at second as Dansby Swanson fired a deflected grounder to second to snag Herrera. The two-run sixth knocked Atlanta lefty Jaime García out of the game, as Eric O'Flaherty and José Ramírez combined to pitch the seventh.

Herrera stretched his streak of impressive running catches in center to two games with a nice sprinting grab in right-center in the seventh. He took a hit away from Swanson and helped out reliever Luis García, who pitched a scoreless inning.

Pat Neshek, back from paternity leave, pitched a scoreless eighth, punctuated by a diving catch by Altherr in left to steal a base hit from Freeman.

Matt Kemp gunned down Altherr at the plate as the Phillies' outfielder attempted to score on a fairly shallow fly ball off the bat of Franco, stopping the Phillies from earning a needed insurance run.

With Héctor Neris having pitched the last two nights, Edubray Ramos got the opportunity for the save. Ramos struck out the first two batters, but hung a breaking ball to Brandon Phillips, who drove the ball into the left-field stands for a game-tying home run. A fruitless bottom of the ninth sent the game to extras.

Tommy Joseph's throwing error allowed for Adonis García's go-ahead infield single in the top of the tenth off Gómez. Braves closer Jim Johnson came on for the save.

Brock Stassi singled and Hernández and Altherr managed infield hits to load the bases. Herrera struck out swinging for the second out, but Franco crushed a two-run single to the wall in right to win the game.

The Phillies will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon. Righty Zach Eflin takes the mound, opposing righty Mike Foltynewicz, at 1:35.

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Starting Pitchers