PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Austin Riley hit a three-run homer in the second inning and a solo shot in the ninth, and the Atlanta Braves routed the Philadelphia Phillies 9-0 on Friday night, turning a baseball game into a clean demonstration of who controlled the field and who got flattened by the scoreboard.
Martin Perez pitched six innings for Atlanta after being designated for assignment Sunday and then signing a minor league deal Wednesday. He limited the Phillies to four hits, while José Suarez gave up two hits in the final three innings in picking up his first save. The Braves’ pitching staff held the Phillies to nothing, and the home side had no answer once the visitors started stacking runs.
Who Had the Upper Hand
Dominic Smith and Michael Harris II also homered to help NL East-leading Atlanta improve to 13-7 with its third straight victory. The Braves did not just win; they imposed the terms from the first inning onward, with the lineup and pitching both doing the work of shutting the door.
The Braves loaded the bases in the first on leadoff hitter Ronald Acuna Jr.'s walk, Drake Baldwin’s single and Matt Olson’s walk. Ozzie Albies drove in Acuna with a groundout, and Mike Yastrzemski had an infield single off Walker’s leg to make it 2-0. That early sequence set the tone: the Phillies were forced to react while Atlanta kept manufacturing pressure.
Phillies starter Taijuan Walker (1-3) allowed seven runs in four innings. By the time Riley launched his three-run shot to right-center in the second, the game had already started to look like a rout rather than a contest. Olson had an RBI single in the second, and Walker upped it to 6-0 with two outs with his three-run shot to right-center.
What the Numbers Said
Perez (1-1) was designated for assignment Sunday then signed a minor league deal Wednesday. In this little economy of baseball labor, he went from being cast aside to taking the mound and holding the Phillies to four hits. The transaction log sits right there in the box score, a reminder that even in sports the bosses keep a roster of disposable bodies and temporary fixes.
José Suarez gave up two hits in the final three innings in picking up his first save. The Braves’ bullpen finished the job without drama, and the Phillies never found a way back into the game. Riley’s second homer in the ninth merely put a final stamp on what had already become a one-sided affair.
The Braves’ offense spread the damage around. Dominic Smith and Michael Harris II also homered, and Atlanta’s early baserunners kept forcing the Phillies into defensive scrambling. The result was a 9-0 loss for Philadelphia, with the home team stuck watching the visitors pile up runs and control the pace.
Braves left-hander Chris Sale (3-1, 3.27 ERA) was set to start Saturday night against the Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez (2-1, 2.01). For one night, though, the hierarchy was simple and brutal: Atlanta scored, Philadelphia didn’t, and the scoreboard did the talking.