Spencer Schwellenbach set a career high with 12 strikeouts and Sean Murphy hit a grand slam to lead the host Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday to end their three-game losing streak.
The win squared the three-game series and evened the season series between the teams at 4-4.
Schwellenbach (7-4) pitched seven innings and allowed one run on three hits and one walk. In five career starts against Phillies, Schwellenbach is 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA.
The Atlanta bullpen completed the game. Raisel Iglesias struck out two while working a scoreless eighth and Rafael Montero pitched a perfect ninth inning.
Murphy’s slam, the second of his career, carried 455 feet to left field against reliever Jordan Romano in the seventh inning. The home run, Murphy’s 10th, was his first since May 29, also against Philadelphia, and was Atlanta’s first bases-loaded home run of the season.
Philadelphia starter Jesus Luzardo (7-4) pitched five innings and allowed two runs on seven hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.
Atlanta ended an 18-inning scoreless streak by scoring a run in the first inning on Austin Riley’s infield single.
Atlanta made it 2-0 with a run in the second inning. Nick Allen drove in Eli White with a single, but Stuart Fairchild was easily thrown out at the plate by left fielder Max Kepler to short-circuit the rally.
The Phillies got on the board in the sixth when Brandon Marsh singled — ending a string of 15 consecutive batters retired by Schwellenbach — stole second base and scored on Alec Bohm’s two-out single. Bohm had been 1-for-16 on the road trip and fanned in his first two at-bats.
Atlanta’s Matt Olson went 2-for-5 with a double on Saturday and extended his league-best and career-high on-base streak to 29 games.
The Braves switched their starting lineup and sat down struggling center fielder Michael Harris II, who is in an 0-for-21 slump.
–Field Level Media
