Dubón’s late homer lifts Sale, Braves to win in Philly
PHILADELPHIA — Mauricio Dubón put the game out of reach with a late two-run homer and the Braves delivered the first blow of a crucial four-game series with a 5-2 win Friday at Citizens Bank Park.
Dubón’s blast came with one out and one on in the eighth inning. A 1-0 sweeper from Orion Kerkering was lifted 390 feet into the left field seats, giving Dubón a career-high 11 home runs. He had previously hit 10 with the Astros in 2023.
The long ball provided some breathing room for the first-place Braves, who had been clinging to a 3-2 lead after the fourth inning.
Right-hander Didier Fuentes pitched two innings of scoreless relief for the Braves to get the ball to closer Raisel Iglesias. Iglesias recorded his 30th save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth, and he now has six 30-save seasons for his career.
Friday’s win put the Braves up five games in the division and chopped the magic number to clinch down to 17.
Two of the National League’s best pitchers toed the rubber for their respective teams Friday, with Chris Sale taking the mound for the Braves and Cristopher Sánchez on the bump for the Phillies.
Neither were their usual dominant selves.
Sale (14-9) battled through six innings on a humid Philly night and left after throwing 103 pitches (69 for strikes). He gave up two runs and six hits, struck out seven, walked a batter and hit a batter. The Phillies were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position with Sale on the mound and left five on base.
Sánchez (16-5) threw 108 pitches (67 strikes) over six innings. He walked three, gave up five hits and fanned five while the Braves left five men on base during his outing.
The three runs he allowed all came in the second inning.
The Braves (84-57) struck first with a three-spot in the second against Sánchez. Austin Riley’s one-out single to right scored Lane Thomas, who had walked to start the inning. Dubón went first to third on the play when right fielder Bryce Harper whiffed when charging to field the ball.
With Dubón at third, Ha-Seong Kim fouled off a bunt attempt that would have been a safety squeeze play. Kim got Dubón home anyway with a chopper to third. Ronald Acuña Jr. brought Riley in from second with an RBI single to left.
The Phillies (79-62) countered in the bottom of the second, though, with a Luis Arraez single to left and Alec Bohm RBI double to deep left-center. That snapped 13 straight scoreless innings for Sale.
Bohm struck again in the fourth, hitting a two-out solo home run on a rope into the seats in left. It was Bohm’s 15th home run of the season, and the first home run allowed by Sale since July 4 — a span of eight starts.
Sale allowed a leadoff double in the sixth to Luis Arraez, then got a groundout to third and two strikeouts to end his night.
The three runs of offensive support Atlanta’s lefty ace received Friday were the most since the Braves scored four against the Padres in his July 23 start.