As much as the Braves stunned the Phillies and Cliff Lee on Friday night, it probably wasn’t all that surprising how things unraveled by light of day Saturday afternoon, when the Phillies evened the series with a 10-2 win.
Brandon Beachy kept the game close, and then the four-time defending National League East champions pounced on the most vulnerable part of the Braves' roster.
Fueled by a pinch-hit grand slam by Carlos Ruiz, the Phillies found the weak spot in the Braves' bullpen and broke the game open with a five-run seventh inning to even the series 1-1.
Braves right-hander Derek Lowe faces left-hander Cole Hamels in the finale Sunday.
“We’ll take our butt-kicking today and come out and try and win the series tomorrow,” said Chipper Jones, whose three-run double Friday night helped the Braves beat Lee.
Saturday's game was still close when Beachy walked off the mound, having allowed a leadoff double in the seventh down 3-2.
With the Braves trailing, manager Fredi Gonzalez went with George Sherrill and Scott Linebrink, the two relievers who have struggled the most this spring.
Left-hander Sherrill, who gave up a .427 average to right-handers last season, allowed a single to right-handed pinch-hitter John Mayberry and walked right-hander Wilson Valdez on five pitches. Linebrink came on to face Ruiz and had him 0-2 before serving a fastball up for his first career grand slam.
“I had him 0-2, right where I wanted to,” Linebrink said. “Trying to go up and away, and the ball just leaked back over the inside part of the plate. Basically just threw it right into his swing.”
Gonzalez would have played it differently had the Braves taken advantage of scoring chances in the fifth or sixth innings. Alex Gonzalez came a couple of inches from tying the game with a home run to left, but had to settle for a double and was stranded.
Then in the sixth inning the Braves had the bases loaded on Roy Oswalt with Jason Heyward at the plate, but he broke his bat popping up on the infield.
Had Heyward tied it or gotten the Braves a lead, Fredi Gonzalez would have gone to Peter Moylan, Eric O’Flaherty or Jonny Venters, but not with a deficit.
“Next thing you know, they’ve got 40 appearances in the first 50 games,” Gonzalez said of using those three set-up men. “This is a bullpen of six, seven guys and we’ve got to use them all, and I have confidence to use them all in all kinds of situations.”
If it grows thin, the Braves have a couple of hard-throwers in Juan Abreu and Jairo Asencio they could call upon in Triple-A Gwinnett.
Beachy was charged with four runs in six innings and fell to 0-1, 0-3 in five major league starts dating to last season. Beachy kept the Phillies close again, just like he did twice last year in emergency starts Sept. 20 and Oct. 1, but it wasn’t enough.
“This is the third time I’ve faced these guys and third time I’ve taken a loss,” said Beachy, who has a 3.94 ERA against the Phillies, allowing seven earned runs in 16 innings. “I’ve got to be able to beat the Phillies. I just haven’t done that yet.”
Brian Schneider got the biggest blow, making Beachy pay for a two-out walk to Raul Ibanez in the fourth inning. Two pitches later, Schneider gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead with a two-run home run to right.
“It was a fastball about right where he would have asked for it,” Beachy said.
That lead was enough for Oswalt to secure his first win in nine regular-season starts against the Braves. Oswalt gave up a pair of doubles to Alex Gonzalez, but only three singles otherwise. He got the biggest out of the game from Heyward by jamming him with the bases loaded.
“He made the pitch he had to make,” Gonzalez said.
