By Zachary McMahon-
The Philadelphia Phillies hosted the Atlanta Braves for the series opener of a four-game weekend series at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA on Thursday night. The Braves are 13-6 in their previous 19 games and swept the Minnesota Twins, while the Phillies lost to the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
The Phillies optioned righthander Yunior Marte to Triple-A Lehigh Valley while recalling righthander Michael Mercado from Lehigh Valley.
Christopher Sanchez pitched 5 ⅔ innings for the Phillies, allowing seven hits, two earned runs, one walk with eight strikeouts. Charlie Morton tossed 5 ⅔ innings for the Braves, allowing five hits, three earned runs, four walks and seven strikeouts.
Orlando Arcia hit a RBI double to bring in the first run for the Braves in the second inning and then Matt Olson hit two home runs as the Braves led 4-0 in the middle of the sixth inning. Olson extended his six-game extra-base hitting streak which ties a career-long Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2019. He has also driven in a run in six straight game, which ties for the third-longest streak of his career.
Brandon Marsh brought it to within one run with a three-run home run in the sixth, and then Nick Castellanos hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning as the Phillies lead 5-4. For Castellanos this is his 12th career go-ahead home run in the seventh inning or later and his first of the season.
It came down to Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman pitching shutout innings in the eighth and ninth innings to seal the victory for the Phillies. This was Hoffman’s 10th save of the season as it’s the first time in his career that he’s had double-digit saves. .
This victory matches their longest come from behind victory this season as they were also down four on June 30, before they won 7-6 over the Miami Marlins.
Bryson Stott walked three times and stole two bass, as he steals multiple bases in a game for the fourth time this season. His three walks are the third time this season, and he’s the first Phillie since 1958 to have multiple games of three or more walks and two or more stolen bases in the same season.
Alec Bohm was taken out in the second inning with left hand discomfort, and he was replaced by Edmoundo Sosa who was 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
Marcell Ozuna hit a single in the first inning, as he extended his on-base streak to 22 games, which is tied for the second-longest streak in the MLB with Yordan Alvarez. Francisco Lindor currently has the longest with 29.
On Friday, the teams will play the second game of the series at 6:40 pm first pitch with Ranger Suarez going up against Reynaldo Lopez.
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