Philadelphia Phillies crush Atlanta Braves 7-1 to close in on record – MLB Update
The Philadelphia Phillies outmuscled the Atlanta Braves 7-1 on Tuesday, September 27 at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia.
Roy Oswalt tossed six scoreless innings for Philadelphia to outweigh Braves’ strong offence and subsequently win his ninth game of the season. Phillies' offence stayed abreast, guiding the National League East leaders to their record levelling 101st
win of the season. With one last game left in the season, a win will allow the Phillies to complete a three-game series sweep in addition to knocking out the Braves from the post-season and setting a record for most wins in a single season by a team in the
Majors.
Oswalt, back after an injury plagued July, gained his arm strength in what was a scintillating display of top-quality pitching. He allowed just three hits in his spell to magnify the gulf between both teams after the visitors had scored six runs by the end
of the fifth inning.
"I just needed to take a little bit of time," Oswalt said. "I missed too much to go out there and be a 100 percent right out of the chute."
The Braves, on the contrary, lost their advantage in the NL Wild Card standings and drew level with St. Louis Cardinals with the final game of the season scheduled for Wednesday to decide fate of both teams. Braves had been leading the Wild Card race since
June 20 but a dip in form in September has seen them drop to their lowest level this season.
Atlanta’s manager Fredi Gonzalez expressed disappointment and said, "We've played 161 games and it comes down to one. We've done it to ourselves. No excuses there. We've got to go get it tomorrow."
Chase Utley, Hunter Pence and Jimmy Rollins smashed a home-run each to give the Phillies an upper-hand in the crunch game, not much for qualification but for the record. Rollins and Pence were the most prominent batters for Phillies, driving in two and three
runs respectively in addition to the three combined-runs they added for the team.
Atlanta’s starter Derek Lowe, on the other hand, had yet another horrendous outing and was brave to admit it after losing his 17th game of the season. Lowe gave away five runs in four innings to see his ERA surge to 5.05 for season.
It will be interesting to see how the Braves counter this loss to regain their Wild Card entry on Wednesday, September 28. The Phillies, on the other hand, will go all-out to win the finale and achieve the record for most wins in MLB. A lot will depend on
how the Cardinals play their game, but the result might become useless if the Braves replicate a similar performance.
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