Final/10
Mayberry's HR lifts Phils past Braves in 10
Sep 1, 2012 - 4:50 AMVideo
Trailing 5-4 in the ninth, Erik Kratz laced a solo shot to left field to force extra innings.
"Just try to get a pitch you can handle and not try to do too much with it because if you try to speed up or swing too hard, when the guy (Kimbrel) is throwing that hard you're never going to catch up to it," Kratz said of his homer. "So I was just trying to put the barrel on it and fortunate that I did it. I try to put the barrel on it every time and obviously it doesn't happen, but he made two nice pitches at the start and I don't even know where the last one was but I was able to barrel up."
In the 10th Kevin Frandsen singled, moved to second on a balk before taking third on Chase Utley's ground out. Reliever Cristhian Martinez (5-4) intentionally walked Ryan Howard to put runners on the corners, but Juan Pierre struck out on three straight pitches.
Mayberry then smacked the first pitch he saw into the left-field seats to give the Phillies the decisive advantage.
"It's awesome to be 'A', put in that position to be able to get a big hit for your team and then 'B', to come through," Mayberry said.
Jonathan Papelbon worked a perfect 10th to pick up his 31st save of the season.
Howard finished 2-for-4 with a solo homer and three RBI for the Phillies, who have won six of their last eight.
Martin Prado and Freddie Freeman both hit two-run homers and Dan Uggla stroked a solo shot for the Braves, who have dropped three of four.
Howard smacked a solo homer in the second, his 10th of the season, to get the Phillies on the board.
With runners at first and second in the fourth inning Paul Janish ripped a single to right field. Braves third baseman Chipper Jones rounded third and broke for home but was cut down on a bang-bang play.
Mayberry fired home, but his throw pulled Kratz up the line and directly into Jones' path. Jones lowered his shoulder and leveled Kratz, but the catcher held on to the ball to get the out.
Atlanta used a pair of two-run homers to take a 4-1 lead in the fifth.
Mike Minor singled before Prado clobbered his eighth homer of the year and Freeman's two-run blast scored Jones, who reached base on a walk.
But the Phillies came back with three in the sixth to tie the game.
With the bases loaded Howard sent a soft-liner to center to score Jimmy Rollins and Frandsen and Ty Wigginton followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Utley.
Uggla's solo blast in the home half gave the Braves the lead once again, but they were unable to hang on as Craig Kimbrel blew his third save of the season.
"It was definitely not a location I was trying to put it. I was trying to elevate on him and it didn't go high enough," Kimbrel said. "Hess (Kratz) a good fastball hitter and put the barrel on it and you saw what happened. All we can do is come back tomorrow and keep on playing. I'm trying to go out there and walk off the field with a win. Obviously I go out there and try to do my job every time so I'm not going to be happy about it when I don't get it done."
Game Notes
Papelbon picked up his 250th career save ... Roy Halladay started for the Phillies and last just 4 2/3 innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits and walked four in his shortest outing since May 27 ... Minor started for the Braves and gave up four runs on seven hits over five-plus frames.
- PHILADELPHIA: 8
ATLANTA: 5
Final/10
Aug 31 10:57 PM - John Mayberry two-out, three-run Home Run (13) to left scored Kevin Frandsen and Ryan Howard. Erik Kratz due up.
Phillies 8, Braves 5 Top 10, 2 OutsAug 31 10:40 PM - Domonic Brown is pinch-hitting for Michael Martinez.
Phillies 5, Braves 5 Top 9, 0 OutsAug 31 10:16 PM - Dan Uggla lead-off Home Run (17) to center. Paul Janish due up.
Phillies 4, Braves 5 Bot 6, 0 OutsAug 31 9:24 PM - Ty Wigginton sacrifice fly to left scored Chase Utley with one out. Runner on first and John Mayberry due up.
Phillies 4, Braves 4 Top 6, 1 OutAug 31 9:13 PM - Ryan Howard single to center scored Jimmy Rollins and Kevin Frandsen with none out. On the play, Chase Utley advances to third. Runners on first and third and Ty Wigginton due up.
Phillies 3, Braves 4 Top 6, 0 OutsAug 31 9:09 PM - Jeremy Horst enters the game for the Phillies with none on and two out.
Phillies 1, Braves 4 Bot 5, 2 OutsAug 31 9:01 PM - Chipper Jones walked. Runner on first with two outs and Freddie Freeman due up.
Phillies 1, Braves 2 Bot 5, 2 OutsAug 31 8:56 PM - Ryan Howard none-out, solo Home Run (10) to right center. Ty Wigginton due up.
Phillies 1, Braves 0 Top 2, 0 OutsAug 31 7:51 PM - PHILADELPHIA: 0
ATLANTA: 0
Top 1, 1 Out
Aug 31 7:37 PM
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