Braves 6, Phillies 2
PHILADELPHIA -- At home, Atlanta Braves right-hander Julio Teheran has been one of the better starting pitchers in baseball. On the road, he's been one of the worst.
Teheran bucked that trend Sunday, allowing two runs and striking out seven to pick up just his second road win of the season as the Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 at Citizens Bank Park. Teheran got the run support he needed with a two-out, four-run rally in the top of the fifth inning that put Atlanta (47-58) ahead for good.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak and marked the end of a 10-game road trip for the Braves, and it also helped them avoid getting swept for the sixth time this season. The Phillies, owners of the worst record in baseball despite coming into Sunday's game with the best record and best run differential since the All-Star break, fell to 41-65 and will host the Dodgers on Tuesday.
Teheran, who won 14 games in each of the last two seasons but took a 6-6 record and a 4.71 ERA to the mound Sunday, allowed an RBI single to Phillies left fielder Cody Asche in the second and another RBI single to center fielder Odubel Hererra in the fifth but was otherwise solid, allowing just one walk in seven innings of work.
Phillies starter Adam Morgan allowed baserunners and pitched out of trouble in each of the first four innings before it caught up to him in a four-run fifth inning that ended his afternoon. All four of the Braves' fifth-inning runs came with two outs.
Morgan walked Braves center fielder Cameron Maybin to start the top of the fifth inning and sent him to second on a balk before retiring Eury Perez and Freddie Freeman on consecutive fly ball outs to right field. The balk, however, proved costly once Chris Johnson scored Maybin from second on an RBI single, and things came apart for Morgan after he walked Jonny Gomes and then surrendered a three-run home run to right to Atlanta second baseman Jace Peterson on a 2-0 pitch that gave the Braves a 4-1 lead.
The Phillies got a run back in the bottom half of the inning to pull within 4-2 with a two-out rally of their own when second baseman Cesar Hernandez hit a ground-rule double and scored on a single by Herrera. Philadelphia was in position to extend the rally after Maikel Franco's single sent Herrera to second, but Freeman made a nice sliding stop of a Ryan Howard grounder and flipped it to Teheran for the final out of the inning.
NOTES: Phillies 1B Ryan Howard extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double to deep right field in the bottom of the second inning. ... After making two trades on July 24 and July 30, Atlanta's 25-man roster currently has just 11 players who were on its 2015 Opening Day roster -- and only four of those players were part of the organization last season. ... Braves SS Andrelton Simmons missed Sunday's game with what the team is calling a sprained right thumb. Although X-rays taken Saturday night were negative, there is no timetable for his return. ... Phillies 2B Chase Utley began a rehab assignment Sunday with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The veteran has missed the last 33 games with right ankle inflammation.