Kyle Wright earns 20th win as Braves bats wake up in 6-3 win over Phillies

Sep 24, 2022 - 11:40 PM

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After scoring one (1) run total during the first two games of the series, the Atlanta bats put together a 14-hit, 6-run performance on Saturday afternoon in a 6-3 defeat of the Philadelphia Phillies. With the win, which was Kyle Wright’s 20^th of the season, the Braves snapped a three-game losing skid and improved to 94-58 on the year, while the Phillies dropped to 83-68.

On the mound, Wright did not allow a hit until the sixth inning, and the only Philadelphia baserunners that reached before then did so courtesy of a pair of two-out walks and an error by Austin Riley, who was playing first base in place of Matt Olson (that is, until the everyday first baseman entered as part of a defensive adjustment in the eighth). Wright would ultimately exit the game having allowed two runs on two hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 5.1 innings pitched.

On offense, Dansby Swanson got the game off to a good start with a single to left field on the first pitch he saw, but the real fireworks wouldn’t start until the next inning, when Travis d’Arnaud led off with a double that resulted from a combination of afternoon shadows that fooled Kyle Schwarber and an impressive slide to avoid Jean Segura’s tag.

The Atlanta catcher would advance to third on a Michael Harris II groundout and come around to score on a Vaughn Grissom single that bounced up the middle and gave the Braves their first lead of the series.

William Contreras doubled that lead in the third with an opposite field shot, good for his 20^th homer of the season. He is the fifth Brave to reach the mark in 2022.

The Atlanta lead was doubled once again in the fourth inning, as Marcell Ozuna laced a one-out single that was followed up by a Harris II homer, also to the opposite field.

Grissom kept the momentum going with a single, and Orlando Arcia did the same to put runners on the corners with one out. A Robbie Grossman strikeout brought up Swanson, who connected for a single that scored Grissom and upped the Braves’ lead to 5-0. The RBI was the 89^th of the season for Swanson, marking a new career high for the shortstop.

The hit parade continued with a Contreras single that scored Arcia, at which point the Phillies pulled starter Bailey Falter. Riley struck out to end the frame, but the four-run outburst was a very welcome sight for what had been quite the quiet Braves offense.

Atlanta had a promising threat in the fifth, putting runners on second and third with one out via a d’Arnaud single combined with a Harris II double over the head of centerfielder Brandon Marsh, but neither scored. The rally would prove to be the last of the day for the Braves, whose primary offensive notes for the remainder of the game were that 1) Harris II came within a triple shy of a cycle after an infield single in the seventh and 2) with a single in the ninth, Contreras had a three-hit game while occupying the second spot in the lineup.

The Phillies finally ended both the no-hitter and the shutout in the sixth inning. Wright did get Schwarber to fly out to start the frame, but Rhys Hoskins doubled to left field, and Bryce Harper followed it up with a homer to cut the Braves’ lead to 6-2. Collin McHugh then replaced Wright and retired the next two Philadelphia hitters thanks in part to a nice snag by Riley at first.

In the Philadelphia half of the seventh against Raisel Iglesias, Marsh reached on an honest error by Riley, who was charging the grounder like he would at third, and Segura followed it up with a single. A Bryson Stott fielder’s choice put runners on the corners with one out, and Nick Maton hit a sacrifice fly that scored Marsh. Brian Snitker then went to AJ Minter, and he walked Schwarber and went to a full count on Hoskins but got a strikeout to keep the score at 6-3.

Minter tossed a one-two-three inning in the eighth, and Kenley Jansen did the same in the ninth to earn his 37^th save of the year.

The four-game series wraps up tomorrow at 1:05PM with Charlie Morton slated to face Kyle Gibson.