The way the weekend went for the Braves in Philadelphia, Evan Gattis gave them only a 486-foot reprieve from what’s been ailing them offensively.
The longest home run hit in the majors this season – and the first multi-homer game to add to the Gattis’ folklore - couldn’t stop the tide of a 3-2 loss to the Phillies and a weekend sweep.
Darin Ruf hit a solo home run off reliever David Carpenter in the eighth to give the Phillies their third straight game-winning home run in the seventh inning or later this series.
The Braves averaged 2.7 runs while batting .135 (12-for-89) with 32 strikeouts and only five walks in the three losses.
“We didn’t swing the bats; that’s the bottom line,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “There’re no excuses about that. We pitched good enough to win and didn’t hit enough to win ballgames.”
The Braves suffered only their third series sweep of the year and the first at the hands of the Phillies since the final three games of the epic 2011 collapse.
The Braves had a 8 ½ game lead in the wild card standings at the start of September in 2011 before going 9-18 in the final month. The Braves are 2-5 this September but are still up by 12 games in the NL East with 20 to play.
“We’ll come back ready to play tomorrow,” said B.J. Upton, who went 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts in the leadoff spot this series. “Things like this happen. This is why you give yourself that cushion. Can’t expect to win them all. We’ve been playing well all year; we’ll bounce back tomorrow.”
The Braves magic number stayed at nine, which means they won’t have a chance to clinch during a four-game series in Miami. But they know it’s time to regroup after three straight one-run losses.
“It’s not like we came in here and got blown out or anything,” said left-hander Paul Maholm, who took a no-decision after allowing two earned runs in six innings. “We lost three close games. It’s going to happen. But we need to go into Miami and expect to win a series.”
Maholm, now 4-8 with a 5.86 ERA in 15 road starts this season, was not fooling the Phillies in the first inning, when Chase Utley doubled for one of two run-scoring hits in the inning, and the Phillies hit a pair of long fly balls for outs to end the inning. But after Gattis silenced the Phillies crowd of 38,706 with his mammoth shot in the top of the second inning, Maholm settled in and the complexion of the game changed.
A healthy gust of wind is all that separated Gattis from hitting three home runs in four pitches from Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels, who gave up only two hits in eight innings on a pair of solo home runs by Gattis.
Gattis victimized Roy Halladay for his first major league home run on April 3 but that was child’s play next to what he did to Hamels’ 0-1 92 mph fastball for his 17th. Gattis rattled a steel girder at the base of the Budweiser Rooftop in straightaway center field at Citizens Bank Park - a patio area above the concourse that’s beyond the center field seats. ESPN Home Run tracker estimated the home run at 486 feet, well over the previous long hit this season of 476 feet by Giants right fielder Hunter Pence.
“I figured someone would hit one further, (Giancarlo) Stanton or somebody, but whatever, it all counts as one,” Gattis said. “And we lost the game today. Just ready to get after them in Miami.”
Pence had the benefit of light air at Coors Field. Hamels told reporters after Sunday’s game, he knows Gattis’ balls are gone in any ballpark. Gattis hit another one 385 feet to left field on a first-pitch curveball to tie the game 2-2 in the seventh.
“I felt like I was throwing a golf ball out there and he had a driver,” Hamels said. “He’s probably going to be in that strongest man competition at the end of the year. Definitely going to vote on him because he’ll win. It was impressive.”
Hamels dropped his head in the fifth, like he thought Gattis had taken him deep again, but center fielder Cesar Hernandez tracked that one down on the warning track.
“I guess if the 50 mph winds blowing in didn’t keep it in play, it definitely would have been off the wall,” Hamels said. “Or through it.”
