Phillies edge past Braves 7-6 on controversial play at the plate
ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 11: Alec Bohm #28 of the Philadelphia Phillies slides into home plate ahead of the tag by Travis d'Arnaud #16 of the Atlanta Braves for the go-ahead run in the ninth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on April 11, 20
ATLANTA - Didi Gregorius hit a three-run homer in Philadelphia’s four-run fourth inning and had the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth to help the Phillies snap the Atlanta Braves’ four-game winning streak with a 7-6 victory Sunday night.
Alec Bohm doubled off Braves closer Will Smith to begin the ninth, advanced to third on a bunt and scored to make it 7-6 on Gregorius’ fly to shallow left. Marcell Ozuna’s throw bounced twice before Bohm was initially called safe — even though it appeared he didn’t get his foot on the plate against catcher Travis d’Arnaud’s tag attempt.
The play was reviewed and upheld, prompting fans at Truist Park to throw debris into the outfield and causing the grounds crew to come out to pick up the trash.
Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins homered for the Phillies, who had lost three of four. Héctor Neris faced the minimum in the ninth to earn his second save and has a 1.86 ERA with five consecutive saves converted and 25 strikeouts, a span of 19 1/3 innings, since last Aug. 28.
Jose Alvarado (2-0) pitched the eighth to earn the win. Smith (0-2) took the loss.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies homered to power the Braves. Acuña, on a hot streak over his last six games, went 9 for 13 in the three-game series and homered twice.
Homering for the second straight night, Harper took reliever Nate Jones deep with an opposite-field solo shot to left to make it 6-5. Acuña’s fourth homer, coming in the bottom half of the inning to make it 6-all, sailed 428 feet into center field off reliever Sam Coonrod.
Freeman’s fourth homer, coming off starter Matt Moore’s changeup, cleared the fence in center to force a 5-all tie in the fifth.
The Braves went up 3-0 in the first. Acuña reached on an infield single, and Albies hit his first homer before d’Arnaud doubled and scored on Dansby Swanson’s single.
Philadelphia made it 3-1 in the second when J.T. Realmuto doubled and scored on Jean Segura’s sacrifice fly.
In the fourth, Hoskins’ second homer went to left, trimming the lead to 3-2, before Gregorius crushed a curveball from starter Drew Smyly into the right-field seats for a three-run homer that gave the Phillies a 5-3 lead.
The Braves answered with a run to make it 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth when Cristian Pache doubled, advanced on a bunt and scored on Acuña’s sacrifice fly.
Phillies starter Matt Moore gave up five runs and nine hits and struck out three in five innings. Smyly allowed five runs and five hits and struck out three in five innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves manager Brian Snitker had no immediate timetables for RHP Mike Soroka (right Achilles) and RHP Chris Martin (right shoulder inflammation). Soroka has been out since last Aug. 3 and has fully recovered from surgery, but still has some inflammation. Snitker said Martin, who was placed on the injured list Saturday, is not a candidate for surgery.
ROSTER MOVE
Philadelphia placed RHP Archie Bradley on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain. Bradley allowed two hits and one run and was charged with the loss in one-third of an inning on Saturday.
"It’s not something I can pinpoint," he said. "It’s not one particular act that I felt it on. Obviously, I wasn’t very happy with (Saturday’s) results."
LHP JoJo Romero was recalled from the team’s alternate training site in Lehigh Valley.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Chase Anderson (0-1, 3.60 ERA) will face LHP David Peterson (0-1, 13.50 ERA) as Philadelphia begins a four-game series at the New York Mets.
Braves: RHP Huascar Ynoa (0-0, 0.00) pitches opposite RHP Sandy Alcantara (0-1, 1.50) as Atlanta hosts the Miami Marlins in the first of a four-game series.
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