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Upton, La Stella power Braves past Phillies in twinbill opener

Jun 28, 2014 - 9:49 PM Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Justin Upton and Tommy La Stella each drove in three runs as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-3, in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader.

Upton finished with two hits and La Stella knocked in three runs with a triple during a five-run eighth inning for the Braves, who have won the first two contests of this four-game series.

Starter Ervin Santana (6-5), who entered the game with three straight losses, earned the win after giving up just two runs on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

Ryan Howard, Cody Asche and Roberto Hernandez each drove in a run for Philadelphia, which has lost six of its last eight games. Hernandez (3-7) gave up four runs -- two earned -- on three hits and three walks across seven innings in defeat.

The Braves went ahead in the sixth after Upton's two-run double off the top of the left-field wall scored Andrelton Simmons and Freddie Freeman for a 4-2 game.

Philadelphia threatened in the seventh. Koyie Hill walked and Ben Revere doubled on a liner to right with two outs, placing both runners in scoring position and chasing Santana. Luis Avilan entered and induced an inning-ending ground out from pinch-hitter John Mayberry.

Atlanta pulled away for good in the following frame, after loading the bases off Antonio Bastardo with one out thanks to two walks and a single. Chris Johnson's grounder squirted into the left field for an RBI hit, La Stella stroked a base-clearing triple to right and came home on Luis Garcia's wild pitch to give the Braves a 9-2 advantage.

In the home half, Utley hit a leadoff single, moved to second on Avilan's wild pitch, advanced to third on Howard's ground out and scored on Asche's ground out.

Johnson's RBI double in the ninth accounted for the final score.

Tony Gwynn Jr. tripled to right with one out in the first. Howard brought him around with single to left, giving Philadelphia an early lead.

In the second, Hernandez helped his cause by bringing in Hill, who doubled, with a two-out base hit to left, making it a 2-0 game.

Simmons singled with one away in the fourth and Howard then committed two fielding errors at first base. Freeman reached second after his hard liner went through the legs of Howard and trickled into the right-field corner for a double.

Simmons scored after Howard bobbled Upton's grounder at first and Freeman came home on Jason Heyward's groundout, tying the game at 2-2.

Game Notes

The last time the two teams faced each other in a doubleheader was Sept. 13, 2006 when the Phillies won both games ... La Stella broke an 0-for-23 hitting slump with his eighth-inning triple ... Upton extended his hitting streak to six games ... Hernandez fell to 0-5 over his last six starts at Citizens Bank Park ... In the nightcap, David Hale will take the mound for the Braves against Philadelphia's Sean O'Sullivan, who will be making his first start of the season.