The Phillies offense came alive in the seventh inning to propel the team to a win over their NL East rival Atlanta Braves.
The Phillies bounced back from their 4-3 loss Friday to pick up a 7-4 win Saturday over the Atlanta Braves. All but one of their runs came in the seventh when the offense exploded for six runs.
Philadelphia did pick up the first run of the game courtesy of a RBI single from Maikel Franco. The third baseman went 1-for-3 as his OPS for this spring is now a ridiculous 1.506. They had a chance to put even more runs on the board, but Dylan Cozens struck out after a Tommy Joseph double.
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Jerad Eickhoff gave up three runs to the Braves in the top of the seventh, putting the Phils behind by two. One run was unearned as Eickhoff made an error on a throw to first base. The righty finished the game with three hits allowed and two strikeouts over three innings of work.
Jeanmar Gomez pitched a scoreless fourth before Drew Anderson came to the mound in the fifth.
He pitched three innings, giving up just one hit, a solo home run to Rio Ruiz that put Atlanta up 4-1. Anderson recorded three strikeouts and walked one batter.
Former Philadelphia first-round pick Jesse Biddle pitched a scoreless inning against his former team for the Braves. Biddle told Paul Hagen of MLB.com playing for the Braves “feels like home.” He missed the 2016 season due to Tommy John surgery, but the Braves claimed him anyway. Now he is hoping to rebuild his career in their organization.
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When the bottom of the seventh rolled around, Philadelphia’s offense came alive. Aaron Altherr made it all the way to third but was thrown out at the plate to erase that opportunity. With two outs, Jorge Alfaro doubled and Jesmuel Valentin walked. Roman Quinn doubled to plate Alfaro and put Valentin on third.
With runners on second and third, Chris Coghlan delivered a pinch-hit two-run double to tie the game at four. After another walk to Hector Gomez, Andrew Knapp doubled to give Philadelphia the lead. Cozens hit a two-run single that put the Phils ahead 7-4.
Hector Neris and Michael Mariot shut down the Braves in the eighth and ninth innings to clinch the win for Anderson with Mariot earning the save.
Next: Phillies Fall to Twins as Kingery Knocks Second HR
Sunday the Phils have a split squad. Clay Buchholz will start against the Tigers in Clearwater while Nick Pivetta will start against the Orioles at their stadium.