Braves at Phillies
Ozzie Albies has scored more runs than any player in the National League during his first full season with the Atlanta Braves, and the 21-year-old looks to lead his team to a series victory in the finale of a three-game set Wednesday against the host Philadelphia Phillies. Albies scored all three Atlanta runs in a thrilling 3-1 victory Tuesday, as the Braves topped Philadelphia for the seventh time in 11 meetings this season to extend their lead over the Phillies in the NL East to 1 ½ games.
In a tight game Tuesday between two teams that have surpassed expectations to rise to the top of the division, the Braves handled the pressure better. Albies (who leads the NL with 45 runs scored) belted his 14th homer in the third inning and, after collecting a ninth-inning single and moving to second on a passed ball, scored a critical insurance run on 20-year-old Ronald Acuna’s base hit. Albies scored his second run in the fifth inning with the help of Carlos Santana’s throwing error - the fourth consecutive game in which the Philadelphia first baseman has recorded an error. Philadelphia second baseman Cesar Hernandez drove in the Phillies lone run with a fifth-inning single, extending his on-base streak to 26 consecutive games.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), NBCS Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves LH Luiz Gohara (0-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jake Arrieta (3-2, 2.82)
Gohara impressed in making five starts last September, but endured a miserable offseason in which his father died and his mother fell ill, then suffered groin and ankle injuries that scuttled his spring training. But after four rough rehab starts in the minors in which he posted a 6.89 ERA, the fourth-ranked prospect in the organization by MLB Pipeline has posted a 1.29 ERA with five strikeouts across seven innings in three relief appearances. Gohara, who will return to his native Brazil to be with his mother after the start, struck out 31 in 29 1/3 innings last season.
Arrieta has provided the Phillies exactly what they hoped when they signed the 32-year-old to a three-year deal, giving up two earned runs or fewer seven times in his first eight starts. He lost Friday at St. Louis, allowing four runs (two earned) in three innings with two walks, seven days after firing 7 1/3 shutout innings in a no-decision against the New York Mets. Arrieta, who has walked two hitters in each start this season, is 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA in five career starts against Atlanta.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia 3B Maikel Franco snapped a 0-for-13 skid with a fifth-inning single, and added a single in the seventh.
2. Atlanta struck out three times with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and 14 times overall Tuesday - four by SS Dansby Swanson - just two off its season high of 16 set April 11 at Washington.
3. The Phillies are 17-7 with a plus-50 run differential at home, but three of those home defeats have come against the Braves.