Much of what Dan Uggla has done in the first quarter of his initial season with the Braves has defied expectations. He has played strong defense – not expected – and failed to hit his weight in batting average.
What he has done that was expected is come through with home runs in some crucial situations, like the one he hit Sunday to beat Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies.
His leadoff homer in the eighth inning lifted the Braves past the Phillies 3-2 in the Civil Rights game at Turner Field, giving them a series win before a crowd of 42,117 that accorded Uggla the loudest ovation he’s had in Atlanta.
Uggla went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored all three of Atlanta’s runs, and Tim Hudson pitched seven strong innings as the third-place Braves cut the deficit to 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Phillies in the National League East.
“It felt great putting together some good at-bats,” said Uggla, who hit a full-count fastball to the left-field seats, the second homer this season off Halladay (5-3). “I finally felt pretty good today at the plate on all my at-bats, even the strikeout.”
Uggla’s hitting .205, but four of his seven homers have come in close-and-late situations, a team-high. He's 9-for-25 in those situations in the seventh inning and later. (He's also 9-for-22 with three homers in his career against Halladay.)
“He still has come up with the big home run for us,” said Hudson, who got no decision as the Braves won his fourth consecutive start against the Phillies. “Regardless of what his average is, his home-run numbers are there, and that’s why we brought him over, to put some [balls] in those seats out there. That’s what he’s been doing.”
It was the Braves’ second series win over the Phillies in 10 days, and improved their record to 5-4 against the division’s top dog. Halladay (eight innings, three runs, eight hits) had been 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA in five prior starts against the Braves.
“It was a great series for us,” said Hudson, charged with two runs, seven hits and five walks. “It gives us some confidence. You can’t overlook us ...
I think teams have to – and they do – respect us.”
The Braves are 1 1/2 games behind second-place Florida, the team that fired manager Fredi Gonzalez in June and traded Uggla to the Braves in November.
“It keeps us inching toward where we want to be,” now-Braves manager Gonzalez said. “That’s where [the Phillies] are right now. We still have three more series against them. They’re getting healthier.To me, they’re still the team to beat in our division.”
The Phillies have been without standout second baseman Chase Utley and closer Brad Lidge so far this season.
The Braves played the series without right fielder Jason Heyward (shoulder) except for ninth-inning defense. They played Sunday without Chipper Jones, who has a small cartilage tear in his right knee that could sideline him 2-3 weeks if it requires arthroscopic surgery.
Brian McCann and Uggla each moved up one spot in the batting order in Jones’ absence, with Uggla taking over as cleanup hitter.
Power was expected from the Popeye-armed second baseman, who signed a five-year, $62 million contract extension with the Braves before he’d even gone to spring training. His constant hustle is something they’ve appreciated.
Uggla led off the fourth inning with a single and the sixth with a walk, and in each case hustled to take an extra base going from first to third on Eric Hinske singles.
Freddie Freeman drove him in both times, with an infield hit in the fourth that gave the Brave a 1-0 lead, and a sacrifice fly in the sixth that tied the score at 2, after John Mayberry’s two-run homer in the top of the sixth.
“It was a game-changer,” Freeman said of Uggla’s dash in the sixth. “If he’s not hustling, it’s [runners at] first and second and I fly out. It changes the whole game."
“He plays hard every game. He expects that, we all expect it, and he does it every game. No matter what he’s doing at the plate, you know he’s going to be there.”
Jonny Venters (3-0) pitched a perfect eighth inning and whittled his ERA to 0.77, and Craig Kimbrel worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth save to record his 10th inning.
