A night after they destroyed Braves pitching to the tune of 19 runs, offense was a problem for the Phillies on Friday night. They only managed two runs on six hits. Fortunately, Ranger Suarez was somehow able to limit the Braves for five innings, while the bullpen chipped in four scoreless, allowing the Phillies to squeak out a 2-1 win.
The last time the Phillies faced Braves starter Bryce Elder, they hit three home runs off him to score ten runs in two innings. But on Friday night, they could get
almost nothing going, managing just a single baserunner through the first three innings.
Things weren’t going as smoothly for Phillies starter Ranger Suarez. He was constantly in trouble throughout his five innings of work, giving up ten hits and one walk. But thanks in part to three double plays, he only allowed one run on a Jurickson Profar single in the second.
The defensive highlight came thanks to their beleaguered right fielder:
The Phillies finally got something going thanks to using small ball in the fourth. Kyle Schwarber walked, and Bryce Harper got on board with a bunt single. Brandon Marsh followed with an RBI single to make it 1-1.
Elder settled back in after that. The Phillies could manage just two more baserunners over the next three innings.
Suarez left the game after five innings, but the Braves couldn’t muster any more runs against the Phillies’ bullpen. David Robertson, Matt Strahm, and Orion Kerkering each threw scoreless frames.
On the other hand, Elder’s night was done after seven, and the Phillies took advantage. Dylan Lee entered the game and gave up singles to Harper and Schwarber (Just a single? maybe you should have saved some of those home runs for tonight?). Right hander Pierce Johnson entered to face Alec Bohm, who got enough of the ball to bring home Harper with a sacrifice fly.
Given the one-run lead, the Phillies called upon Jhoan Duran to close it down. He did so with ease, putting down all three Braves, two of them on strikeouts.
Thursday night’s game was fun, but you only get so many matchups against the Cal Quantrills of the world (Then again, it’s not like Elder has been any better this season), and 19 run outbursts are unlikely to happen against playoff-caliber opponents. But come playoff time, it’s very possible the Phillies will have to pull out a tight, low-scoring game like this one, so it’s nice to see that they’re capable of doing so.
