Philadelphia Phillies edge Atlanta Braves 5-1 – MLB Recap
The Philadelphia Phillies edged past the Atlanta Braves 5-1 in the second game of their three-match regular series encounter on Saturday, September 1 at Turner Field in Atlanta.
"It looks like he enjoyed pitching, He had a four- or five-run lead and he started feeling comfortable and feeling like he could pitch the way he wanted to," manager Charlie Manuel said.
Cliff Lee’s stellar performance provided the Phillies a great win as they eased past the Braves with confidence.
Lee pitched seven innings and received only five hits. His fast and curving pitching was unplayable for the entire Braves' batting line-up as they could not even score a single run on his consistent 3.52.
He struck-out five while he proved one of the winning factors for the Phillies.
“What's done is done," Lee said. "We've been playing better, well-rounded baseball."
B.J. Rosenberg also did well on the mound as he pitched 0.1 innings and allowed only one run and one hit. He received one homer and maintained his 13.09 ERA.
Closer Antonio Bastardo also did very well on his 1.2 innings spell. He did not receive any run and was smashed for one hit. He struck-out four while his ERA remained consistent at 4.81.
On the other hand, the Braves' pitchers did not play well and lost in the end.
"I'm worried about our offense, We're just not swinging the bats at all. It's easy to say the pitchers are better than us, but enough of that," said manager Fredi Gonzalez.
Especially their starter Tim Hudson allowed too many runs at the start of the game which eventually proved disastrous for the Braves.
He pitched five innings and received five runs and nine hits on his 3.76 ERA. He struck-out three but an additional homer also proved disappointing for his team.
"I felt like I was locating pretty good, mixing my off-speed pitches and staying out of the heart of the plate, When you're doing that, it's hard to hit," said Hudson.
Though later Hudson’s team-mates and relief pitchers played well but it was not enough for the Braves as they could not recover from the huge lead that the Phillies took on Hudson’s pitching.
Tags: