Phillies fall to Braves, split four-game series

By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Final: Atlanta Braves 3, Philadelphia Phillies 1 ❖ Attendance: 25,095

ATLANTA — The Philadelphia Phillies (21-37) came into tonight's game hoping to secure a series win against their National League East rival, the Atlanta Braves (26-32). Instead, a loss cemented a four-game series split between the two teams. Phillies starter Ben Lively recorded a quality start in his second Major League outing, pitching seven innings and allowing three runs on nine hits. Despite the number of hits he allowed and his first inning struggles, Lively did not seem to be laboring or lacking pitch command.

The lack of offense was yet again the problem in tonight's game. There were two bright spots: Freddy Galvis, who extended his hitting streak to six games, and Odubel Herrera, who has now doubled in six consecutive games. Herrera's doubles streak is the longest in franchise history since 1913. However, the offense in its entirety only mustered four hits, which isn't acceptable. They did virtually nothing to support their starting pitcher, which has become an unfortunate trend this season.

WP: R.A. Dickey (4-4, 4.73 ERA) ❖ LP: Ben Lively (1-1, 2.57 ERA) ❖ SV: Jim Johnson (12)

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

Game Summary

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

The Braves offense got the scoring started right away. Ender Inciarte led off the game with a walk. Second baseman Brandon Phillips followed with a double to put runners on second and third for the hot-hitting Nick Markakis. He grounded out to second base, scoring Inciarte and moving Phillips up to third. Matt Kemp followed with a double to right-center field to score Phillips and give the Braves a 2-0 lead. Phillies starter Ben Lively was able to retire Matt Adams on a fly out and Tyler Flowers on a strike out to end the inning.

The score remained 2-0, Braves, until the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Adams singled to center field. Flowers followed with a hard hit ball to center field. Odubel Herrera misplayed the ball, which allowed Adams to score from first. It was ruled a double for Flowers and he was given a RBI. Rio Ruiz grounded out to second to move Flowers up to third base with two outs. Lively was able to retire the opposing pitcher, R.A. Dickey, for the final out of the inning.

The Phillies got one back in the top of the seventh. Herrera led off the inning with a double to left field. Two outs later, Maikel Franco singled to right field. Herrera scored on the play, thanks to an excellent slide that allowed him to evade the tag by the Braves' catcher. Michael Saunders grounded out to end the frame. That was the only run that the Phils were able to muster against Dickey and the Braves' relievers.

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Starting Pitchers