Trea Turner hit two more home runs on Friday. (Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)
Final Score: Phillies 8, Braves 6
When Trea Turner landed on the injured list in early May, he had two home runs. Since returning from his hamstring injury on June 17, he’s hit five long balls, increasing his season total to seven. Two of those five homers since mid-June came on Friday night as the Phillies opened their series in Atlanta against the Braves with an 8-6 win.
Turner homered in the fourth inning off Max Fried on a hanging curveball to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead. Two innings later, he tagged Fried for another two-run shot to give his team another three-run lead.
Friday was Turner’s second game this week with two home runs. He also left the yard twice on Tuesday against the Cubs.
Since returning from the injured list, the Phillies shortstop was hitting .333/.371/.530 in 70 plate appearances before Friday night. With Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on the injured list, it was going to take some other players to step up at the plate in order for the Phillies to continue scoring runs. And Turner has been up to the task. Since Schwarber and Harper were placed on the injured list last Saturday, Turner is 11-for-27 with four home runs and 10 RBIs.
On the bump for the Phillies was Aaron Nola. It was Nola’s 35th career start against the Braves and he was solid. He allowed three runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out eight batters and generated 21 swings-and-misses, 10 of which came on his curveball, on 60 total swings. Nola’s pitches had some extra zip on them tonight as his average velocity was up on all of them. The veteran right-hander is now 10-4 on the year with a 3.48 ERA.
Highlights
The Phillies had runners on first and third with one out in the top of the second but were unable to score. They tried to manufacture a run with a squeeze play, but Whit Merrifield was thrown out at the plate by Matt Olson.
The Phillies were building something, but Max Fried escaped unscathed.
Rob Thomson’s club had the bases loaded with two outs an inning later, but Merrifield, swinging at a first-pitch curveball, grounded into a force out up the middle to end the inning, keeping the game scoreless.
Turner’s first home run came after Bryson Stott drove in a run on a groundout.
The Braves got right back into the game in the bottom of the fourth. After Nola retired the first 10 batters he faced, Ozzie Albies singled and then Austin Riley homered to make it a 3-2 game.
Turner’s second home run of the night gave the Phillies a 5-2 lead and traveled 459 feet.
Nola gave up his second homer of the night in the sixth, this one to Albies, to make it a 5-3 game.
The Phillies scored three more runs in the top of the seventh to take a five-run lead. Johan Rojas put the ball in play with runners on second and third for a single. The throw to first by Braves pitcher Jesse Chavez got by Olson, allowing both runners to score and Rojas to advance to second. Rojas then scored after stealing third base due to an error by Riley.
A Marcell Ozuna three-run home run off José Alvarado in the eighth inning brought the Braves within two runs.
Jeff Hoffman pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the ninth to end the game and record his eighth save of the season.
Notes
The Phillies now have a 10-game lead over the Braves in the NL East.
Every hitter in the Phillies starting lineup recorded a hit on Friday. Altogether, the club recorded 15 hits against three different Braves pitchers.
Prior to Friday’s game, the Phillies made several roster moves. The contract of right-handed pitcher Tyler Phillips was selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room for Phillips on the 40-man roster, Luis Ortiz was placed on the 60-day injured list. Yunior Marte was optioned to Lehigh Valley to make room for Phillips on the 26-man roster.
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