Heading into this series in Philadelphia, I openly figured that this was probably going to be a tough time for our Atlanta Braves. Not only do these two teams usually play each other pretty tough, the Phillies were also red-hot coming into this series as well. Combine that with Philadelphia putting out some of their toughest pitchers for this series and this seemed like one of those series where you just take your one win and leave town happy with that.
Well, the good news is that the Braves did at least pick up one win before leaving Citizens Bank Park and it actually was a pretty comfortable win — a rare sight for the Braves so far this season. The bad news is that the first game of the doubleheader on Thursday was a painful one for the Braves — in more ways than one. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Tuesday, May 28
Phillies 2, Braves 0
This was a slog to get through, as the Braves had very few answers for the questions that Ranger Suárez was asking of them in this one. With that being said, one of those “few answers” included a moment where they actually got the bases loaded against Suárez. Now granted, the bases didn’t load up until there were two outs on the board (and this included the strange decision to play for one run while down one run when they used Nick Allen to bunt over Michael Harris II) but yeah, seeing Matt Olson strike out to end that potential rally was a bummer.
Advertisement
Spencer Strider started this one for Atlanta and he delivered a perfectly fine performance in his second start back from a hamstring injury and only his third start since April 2024. He only went 4.2 innings but he struck out seven while only giving up one hit — he did walk four batters though and one of those walks eventually came around to score. The bullpen held up pretty well until Daysbel Hernández came in for the eighth and got the first two outs before the next four Phillies batters all reached base, with Philadelphia bringing us to the 2-0 final score with a bases-loaded walk. Surely that would be the last time we’d see Daysbel Hernández in such a dilemma partly of his own making, right? Right?
Thursday, May 29 (Game 1)
Phillies 5, Braves 4
After Wednesday’s action got rained out, we were treated to a day/night doubleheader on Thursday and for long stretches of the day portion of the doubleheader, it sure seemed like the Phillies were going to cruise their way to victory during the early and middle portions of this contest. It was certainly a tough scene and things only got tougher for Atlanta as they lost a couple of players to some nasty injuries.
AJ Smith-Shawver got hit by a comebacker, stayed in the game afterwards and then during the very next at-bat where he got Trea Turner to fly out, he heard a “pop” in his elbow which is the absolute last thing you want to hear from any pitcher. The Phillies broadcast actually caught Spencer Strider being the one to inform the Braves coaching staff and trainers that something was wrong with AJSS, which prompted the mound visit that took him out of the game.
Advertisement
The Braves also lost Stuart Fairchild in the very next inning after he suffered a gnarly pinky injury while sliding head-first into second base on an ill-fated stolen base attempt. This was looking like it was going to be another dull loss until the Braves came to life in the latter stages of this one (as they are wont to do lately). Sean Murphy and Stuart Fairchild’s substitute Ronald Acuña Jr. (yeah, that’s totally a sequence of words you expected to read at some point this season back in February) both plated a pair of runs in the sixth to bring Atlanta to within one. When Philadelphia got that run back in the seventh, the Braves responded again with Acuña and Murphy making noise once again. Michael Harris II made an(other) incredible catch in this stadium earlier on in this one and he also brought in the tying run with his seventh-inning RBI.
Then the Braves turned to Daysbel Hernández for the eighth inning and once again, it didn’t go well. Hernández only gave up one hit (a single, at that) but he walked two batters and then grazed Rafael Marchán (who had a great game in this one) in order to give up his second bases-loaded free pass in this series alone. That ended up being the difference in this one, as Atlanta’s rally ended up coming up short. Also, boy oh boy, those red uniforms on the road looked weird but apparently we’re going to see a little bit more of it going forward so you might as well gear up for it!
Thursday, May 29 (Game 2)
Braves 9, Phillies 3
Despite the fact that the Braves had Chris Sale starting this one, the Phillies were rolling out Zack Wheeler so it would’ve been reasonable to expect that we’d be in for a nervy pitchers’ duel between two of the best pitchers in baseball right now. Fortunately for Atlanta, this turned out to be their best performance of the series by a country mile. The Braves tagged Wheeler for four runs over 5.1 innings, which means that Atlanta is now responsible for two of Wheeler’s toughest starts so far this season — which is very encouraging considering how tough he’s been on the Braves in the past. All four runs came in the fourth inning, as Austin Riley hit a bouncer down the line for two runs and then Ozzie Albies launched his sixth homer of the season to make it 4-0.
Advertisement
The four runs of support ended up being way more than Chris Sale needed, as the stars once again aligned to deliver a complete team performance in a Sale start. Sale finished with six shutout innings under his belt, including eight strikeouts and just two hits allowed. Luke Williams pushed Atlanta’s lead to six with a two-RBI single in the sixth and then Austin Riley completely broke the game open with a two-run shot in the seventh to make it 8-0. The Phillies added on a few late runs but the Braves even added on another run of their own to eventually make it a comfortable 9-3, series-salvaging victory for Atlanta. The only blemish for the Braves was that they may have to go without Nick Allen for a bit after he got hit by a pitch on his knuckles and left the game. The MRI was negative but I’d imagine they’ll give him some time before they rush him back out there.
Well, at least it ended on a high note? The series opener was just depressing to watch from an offensive standpoint as far as the Braves were concerned and the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader was undeniably brutal. It’s one thing to simply lose a game — it’s another to lose a promising pitcher like AJ Smith-Shawver (potentially for the season if the MRI goes as expected) and some valuable depth like Stuart Fairchild. It was also tough to see Daysbel Hernández struggle in both of his appearances during this series. Austin Cain-Reach’s article on Daysbel ended up being a bit prescient, didn’t it?
Still, despite the rough start to the series, the Braves did eventually make their presence felt in this series with their late resurgence in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader and their dominant victory in Game 2. Ronald Acuña Jr. continues to look good in his return from injury, Chris Sale was excellent, Michael Harris II apparently really enjoys playing in Philadelphia and infield stalwarts like Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies did their part as well. I’m not going to sit here and try to convince you that this was some sort of triumphant series for the Braves but considering how hot the Phillies have been recently, the fact that the Braves played them pretty tough in CBP is a tiny bit encouraging.
Still, Atlanta’s got to get better going forward. They’re three games under .500 heading back home and they’re already 9.5 games behind the Phillies in the division. It’s getting to be that time for the Braves to get on a run if they’re going to be real contenders for the rest of this season. Now, they’ll be facing a Red Sox team that is going to be absolutely limping into Cobb County after having lost five straight. This was a (predictably) tough series in Philadelphia for the Braves but hopefully we’ll see them bounce back with a successful series at home against their traditional AL rivals.
Advertisement
More from batterypower.com: