ATLANTA (AP) — During a seven-run explosion in the eighth inning, Alec Bohm delivered a tie-breaking, two-run double to lift the Philadelphia Phillies past the Atlanta Braves 9-4 on Sunday, preventing a sweep in this crucial NL East matchup.
J.T. Realmuto collected three hits and registered three RBIs, highlighted by a two-run home run.
Bohm lined a double to center field against Dylan Lee (6-1), sending home Trea Turner along with Bryce Harper, who had earlier advanced on his second double of the contest. Bryson Stott and Realmuto followed with RBI singles, while Kyle Schwarber capped the massive inning by driving in a pair of runs with a single off Victor Mederos.
In the ninth frame, Matt Olson launched a two-run home run off Tanner Banks, who had been reinstated from the 60-day injured list earlier in the day.
Even though they avoided a sweep, the Phillies dropped further behind the front-running Braves in the division. Entering the series four games back, Philadelphia departed Atlanta trailing by five games. The Braves claimed the series opener 6-5 in an 11-inning battle on Friday, followed by a dominant 12-2 victory on Saturday evening.
Philadelphia righty Andrew Painter surrendered one run on six hits and four walks. He escaped a bases-loaded threat during the fourth inning. After issuing walks to Austin Riley and Ha-Seong Kim and yielding a single to Michael Harris II, Painter forced a popup from Ronald Acuña Jr. and wrapped up the threat when Olson grounded out to first base.
Harris, finishing with three hits on the day, started the seventh with a single against lefty José Alvarado (4-3), advanced to second base on a wild pitch, and then crossed home plate on Olson’s single to left to tie the score at 2-2.
Upcoming games
Phillies: After resting on Monday, left-hander Cristopher Sánchez (17-5, 2.79 ERA) is slated to take the mound on Tuesday evening for the first game of a road series in Washington.
Braves: Righty Reynaldo López (4-4, 4.13) is set to start on Monday evening on the road against the Chicago Cubs.
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