By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies (20-35) rolled to their third straight win tonight, defeating the Atlanta Braves (24-31) by a score of 11-4 at Suntrust Park.
The Phillies 2-3-4 hitters in the lineup provided plenty of pop as Odubel Herrera, Aaron Altherr and Tommy Joseph combined for three doubles, three home runs, eight RBIs and six runs scored. Philadelphia is now 3-1 in June, already halfway to the number of wins they compiled in the entire month of May.
Odubel Herrera was at the center of the Phillies offense for the third consecutive game. He's been on a tear lately and tonight was no different. El Torito tallied his second straight three-hit game and third straight multi-hit game. Going back to Saturday's game against San Francisco, Herrera's last eight hits have gone for extra bases, six doubles and two home runs. Entering Saturdays's game, Odubel was hitting .218. Tonight against Atlanta, Herrera went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, three runs scored and two RBIs, raising his average to .243 on the season.
Tommy Joseph fell a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with a double, home run, three RBIs and a run scored. Aaron Altherr also had a three-hit night, hitting a home run, driving in three and scoring two runs in the win.
Nick Pivetta made his return for the Phillies and showed signs of improvement en route to his first Major League win. He attacked the zone a bit better early in the count and started the majority of hitters off with first pitch strikes. He had some issues with walks though, allowing three bases on balls. He's walked a total of two batters in 32 innings in Triple-A, so the nerves at the big league level are likely causing him to press a little. Pivetta finished tonight's outing after five innings, allowing three runs on six hits, striking out four and walking three. He tossed 93 pitches, 59 for strikes.
Braves starter Bartolo Colon had another forgettable night against the Phillies, allowing eight runs in just 3.2 innings of work. The 44-year-old right-hander jumped to 7.78 from 6.99 in the ERA column. He's allowed seven or more earned runs in two of his last three outings and has surrendered five runs or more in 50 percent of his outings in 2017.
Offensively for Atlanta, Ender Inciarte went 2-for-2 with a double, two runs scored and two walks. Shortstop Johan Camargo, who was hitting just .188 heading into the game, had a double, triple and two RBIs for the Braves.
Scoring Summary:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| PHI | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 0 |
| ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
The Phillies jumped on top in the first. Odubel Herrera continued his hot hitting with a one-out double. Aaron Altherr followed with an RBI-single and Tommy Joseph belted a two-run home run to make it an early 3-0 lead for Philadelphia. In the third, Herrera hit another double and scored on an RBI-double off the bat of Tommy Joseph, extending the Phillies lead to four.
In the fourth, Michael Saunders drew a one-out walk and came all the way around to score on an Andrew Knapp RBI-double to make is a 5-0 lead for the Phillies. Freddy Galvis drew a walk and then Nick Pivetta bunted the runners over, putting Saunders on third and Galvis on second with two down. Cesar Hernandez came through with a two-run single to right, putting the Phillies lead at 7-0 in the fourth and Odubel Herrera capped off the inning with a two-run blast to make it 9-0.
Atlanta finally got on the board in the fourth. With two on and two down, Johan Camargo hit a two-run triple past a diving Aaron Altherr in left, plating Matt Adams and Rio Ruiz, cutting the big Phillies lead down to seven. In the fifth, Nick Markakis drove Ender Inciarte in with an RBI-single to make it a 9-3 game.
In the seventh, Atlanta got another run across as Brandon Phillips hit an RBI-single to plate Ender Inciarte from second, trimming the Phillies lead to five, 9-4. The Braves continued to threaten with a runner in scoring position and one out, but Nick Markakis lined into an inning-ending 3-6 double play.
Aaron Altherr got in on the action in the eighth, sending a 1-2 pitch into the center field stands, a two-run homer to put the Phillies lead back at seven, 11-4.
Edubray Ramos and Luis Garcia tossed the final two innings, sealing the win for the Phillies, their third straight.
Up Next:
In game two of the four-game set in Atlanta on Tuesday, Aaron Nola (2-3, 5.06) gets the ball for Philadelphia against Braves right-hander Jaime Garcia (2-3, 3.18). First pitch is set for 7:35 p.m.
