After hammering out big innings all week at Turner Field to build a seven-game winning streak and push their division lead to double digits, the Braves kept the momentum going Friday when they hit the road running against the faltering Phillies.
Brian McCann and Chris Johnson homered on consecutive pitches in a five-run fifth inning that lifted the Braves a 6-4 series-opening win at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves have won eight in a row, while the Phillies have lost 11 of 12.
“We have confidence in our offense that we can have a big inning any time,” said Chris Johnson, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games and his streak of multi-hit games to eight, matching an all-time Braves record and breaking the Atlanta-era record.
Phillies frustrations boiled over in the ninth inning when manager Charlie Manuel and Jimmy Rollins were ejected for arguing with the home-plate umpire, while Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect inning for his 32nd save and 22nd in a row.
Braves starter Kris Medlen (8-10) allowed four runs and six hits in six innings, including three solo homers. The Phillies led 2-0 on a pair of second-inning homers by Darin Ruf and Delmon Young, but the Braves erased the lead three innings later en route to their majors-leading 34th comeback win.
It was the Braves’ fifth consecutive game scoring five or more runs in an inning, including three innings with at least six runs. The eight-game winning streak is their longest since a 10-game streak during the 12-1 start.
“I think this is what everyone kind of envisioned our offense being like,” said Medlen, who had one walk with eight strikeouts and won his second consecutive start since losing three straight. “They’re just coming up with some huge innings for us. This may be the most four-, five-, six-run innings I’ve ever (seen). But that’s the kind of lineup we have, and right now it’s going pretty well.”
The Braves needed a few innings to hone in on Phillies pitcher and Georgia native Ethan Martin, 24, who gave up eight hits and six runs in 4 1/3 innings in his major league debut. The right-hander, who grew up a Braves fan and attended Stephens County High in Toccoa, struck out four of the first six Braves batters and had a 2-0 lead after two innings.
“The young kid did well against us the first two or three innings,” Johnson said, “and the second time around we were just trying to learn from our first at-bats.”
Martin gave up a Jason Heyward run-scoring single in the third inning, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, then endured his welcome-to-the-big-leagues inning when the Braves teed off in the five-run, five-hit fifth.
“He was pretty darn good for a couple of innings,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “And then I think second time around the lineup we had a better look at him. But that young man is going to be successful, because he’s got four quality major league pitches that he can throw for a strike. The only thing he needs is a little time (in the majors). But he’s got plenty of stuff.”
Although they own the majors’ best home record and have won 30 of their past 40 games at Turner Field, the Braves lost 22 of their past 36 road games before Friday, when they kicked off a six-game trip to Philadelphia and Washington.
“This is a pretty big road trip for us, seeing as how we haven’t played that well on the road,” Medlen said. “And going up against Philly – whether they’re down or not, I think still a quality team with some veteran guys – and same with the Nationals. The Nationals are no slouch. We know we’re ahead, but we know the teams under us are just as good as they were last year, if not better. They can do some things better and make a run.”
Heyward, who has looked comfortable since moving to the Braves’ leadoff role last week, got the fifth inning started with a double to the right-field corner, then scored the tying run on Justin Upton’s single.
One out later, McCann fell behind in the count 0-2, not a big deal considering he began the day with a majors-leading .310 average with two strikes. His seven-pitch at-bat included a pair of two-strike foul balls, and his 16th homer came a 2-2 fastball. The next pitch was also a fastball, which Johnson hit over the center-field fence.
Joey Terdoslavich drove in the fifth run of the inning with a one-out double off reliever Luis Garcia.
McCann has seven homers and 20 RBIs in his past 17 games against the Phillies. The back-to-back home runs were the seventh this season for the Braves, but not the first homers on consecutive pitches Friday.
That distinction went to Ruf and Young, who did the deed against Medlen in the second inning. Ruf hit a long homer to left on the 10th pitch of his at-bat, a 91-mph fastball after fouling off a 3-2 changeup. Young hit the next pitch, an 89-mph fastball, to the right-field seats for a 2-0 Phillies lead.
“The entire year I haven’t been able to put together six, six just shutout innings,” Medlen said. “I felt like I had the stuff tonight to do it. I felt great. I felt like I was keeping the ball down. Get to that 3-2 count to Ruf and I threw him a 3-2 changeup and he fouled it off. I didn’t want to walk him, so I just tried to throw a fastball by him and have him put it in play, and he hit it good. Delmon Young, too. Just two pitches, for the most part. I felt like I controlled the game, and I’ve been showing signs – to myself – of really turning things around.”
After the consecutive homers, Medlen got 13 outs in the next 15 batters before Chase Utley homered with one out in the sixth. He walked Ruf and gave up a double by Delmon Young before the Phillies got a run on a groundout with the infield playing deep.
Gonzalez let Medlen have a chance to get out of the inning, and he struck out Mayberry with Young at third base to keep the lead at 6-4.
“I thought Medlen did a nice job,” Gonzalez said. “Gave up, what, three solo home runs? Finished strong, punching out Mayberry, and then the bullpen did a nice job retiring nine straight after that.”
