MILWAUKEE – Brandon Phillips was out of the Braves lineup Friday night for the second consecutive game since straining his left groin, but the veteran second baseman had progressed and was expected to start Saturday in the second game of the three-game series against the Brewers.
“He’s doing good,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker, adding that Phillips was available to pinch-hit Friday and could play in the field if he had to. “We’ll try and stay away from (using him on defense Friday), but hopefully he’ll be good to go tomorrow. That’s the plan.”
Plans can always change on short notice, but so far Phillips has made steady progress in his recovery since leaving Wednesday’s game against the Mets after the first inning. He strained the groin sliding on a first-inning stolen base, then tweaked it a little more fielding a grounder in the bottom of the inning and left the game before the second inning.
Phillips extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in his only plate appearance Wednesday before leaving the game. He has a .390 average and two homers during the hitting streak and ranked ninth in the majors with a .352 overall batting average before Friday.
A day after the injury, Phillips was adamant Thursday that he would not require a stint on the 10-day disabled list and expected he’d be ready to play at some point during the weekend series in Milwaukee.
Jace Peterson was 4-for-9 with two RBIs in two games filling in for Phillips at second base before Friday.
