Final Score: Braves 3, Phillies 1
The top of the lineup just couldn’t quite figure out Reynaldo López and the Braves bullpen.
In his first start off the injured list, López struck out 10 Phillies batters through five innings. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper both struck out three times against López. Most of the chances against López came with the middle of the order up. Alec Bohm had a pair of hits and J.T. Realmuto tied the game in the fourth on an RBI single. The Phillies did have bases loaded and two away in the second against López, but Johan Rojas struck out to end the threat.
López could be a tough draw if the Phillies and Braves do meet again in the postseason. Through two starts this season, López has allowed only one earned run with 16 strikeouts in 11 innings against Philadelphia.
A big reason why the Braves have been able to withstand injuries to big time players such as Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider and Michael Harris II and remain in the postseason race is because the pitching has stepped up. López and teammate Chris Sale are a big part of the story, but the bullpen has also come up big at times. Grant Holmes, a depth starter and long reliever, threw two shutout innings, Joe Jimenez kept the Phillies scoreless in the eighth and Raisel Igleasis earned the save in the ninth thanks to three great catches in right field by Ramón Laureano.
For the Phillies, it’s tough to win when the top of the lineup struggles as badly as they did. Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper combined to go 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts. Overall, Braves pitching retired 17 consecutive Phillies batters to end the game.
Zack Wheeler, on the other end, was excellent through six innings, but a mistake pitch to Marcell Ozuna and a couple rough at-bats against former teammate Whit Merrifield was the difference. Overall, he allowed two earned runs and struck out eight over six innings.
José Alvarado picked a bad time to completely lose the strike zone. He walked four batters in the eighth to give Atlanta a free insurance run. Rookie Max Lazar followed him after the RBI walk, a curious decision considering Jeff Hoffman was warming up in the bullpen alongside Alvarado. For the Phillies’ sake, they better hope nothing is seriously wrong with Hoffman. Lazar did leave the bases loaded by getting Merrifield to strike out looking.
The Phillies’ lead in the NL East is now at six. If the Brewers hold on to beat the Cardinals, they will be tied with Milwaukee for the second-best record in the National League.
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