The Philadelphia Phillies hit a season-high five home runs, including three-run shots by Nick Castellanos and Otto Kemp, to awaken their dormant bats en route to 13-0 win over the host Atlanta Braves on Friday night in the opener of their three-game series.
The victory ended the Phillies’ three-game losing streak.
The Phillies had scored only one run while suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of Houston earlier this week. They erupted to set their season high for runs. Philadelphia scored 11 runs in the first three innings.
Philadelphia holds a 4-3 season series lead over Atlanta, which suffered its second straight shutout.
Castellanos hit his ninth homer in the second inning, his 10th career homer against the Braves. Kemp went deep in the third inning for his first major league homer.
The Phillies also got a pair of solo homers from Trea Turner, the second coming in the ninth inning against position player Luke Williams. Kyle Schwarber added a two-run homer, his 25th, tied for second-most in the National League.
The game was delayed by two hours and 19 minutes because of rain. Both starting pitchers had warmed up when the tarp was placed on the field. The Braves still used Bryce Elder, while the Phillies changed from Mick Abel to Tanner Banks when the game began.
Banks pitched two scoreless innings and allowed two hits with two strikeouts. Taijuan Walker (3-5) followed with two scoreless innings on one hit, two walks and one strikeout to earn the win. Alan Rangel, recalled on Sunday from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, finished the final five innings and allowed six hits and one walk with four strikeouts for his first save.
Elder (2-5) was hammered for 10 runs, nine earned, in two-plus innings. He allowed eight hits and four walks with two strikeouts and saw his ERA soar from 4.77 to 5.82.
–Field Level Media
