The Atlanta Braves entered Friday’s series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies hot. The Phillies…did not.
That showed up on the field as the Braves jumped out to a big lead early and coasted to a 9-0 throttling of the Phillies in the first game of the three-game set at Citizens Bank Park, earning their major-league-leading fourth shutout of the season.
Martín Pérez and Jose Suarez combined for the shutout (a truly crazy thing to write), giving up just six hits and three walks while stranding eight
runners.
Austin Riley sparked the offense with a pair of homers, giving him three in the last two games after he had none through 18 games this season.
The game didn’t seem to be going down this path when both teams had prime scoring chances in their respective first innings. The Braves loaded the bases with no outs, while Philadelphia did so with one out.
Atlanta struck for two runs on a groundout and a Mike Yastrzemski infield single before Pérez escaped the jam to keep the Phillies off the board. As it turned out, that set the tone for the game.
The Braves took command in the second inning when they plated four runs, all with two outs. Matt Olson’s RBI single made it 3-0 before Riley’s first homer doubled that advantage to 6-0, bringing out the boo birds in Philly.
Phillies right-hander Taijuan Walker (1-3, 9.16 ERA) was rocked by the Braves lineup, allowing seven runs on seven hits over four innings, striking out four and walking three.
Pérez (1-1) escaped the first-inning jam he put himself in with a hit-by-pitch, single and walk with a strikeout of Edmundo Sosa on an elevated fastball and by inducing a J.T. Realmuto flyout to left.
He managed just one 1-2-3 inning across his six shutout frames but consistently navigated trouble, scattering four hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Through four games (three starts) this season, the veteran has allowed five runs over 20 1/3 innings for a 2.21 ERA.
Atlanta tacked on two more in the eighth on Michael Harris II’s third homer of the season, a two-run shot for his third hit of the night, and Riley closed out the scoring with a line-drive solo shot to right.
Suarez preserved the shutout as well as the bullpen by working the final three innings, working around two hits and a walk.
