The connoisseurs say Andrelton Simmons looks just a little bit like Chipper Jones from the right-handed batter’s box, and he made the comparison obvious on Saturday night.
Simmons launched a game-tying two-run ninth-inning home run off Jonathan Papelbon, the Phillies closer Jones walked off against for the final home run of his career last year.
But just when it looked like Simmons would have the game’s defining moment, the Phillies made a walk-off memory of their own. Freddy Galvis took former Phillies right-hander Freddy Garcia 369 feet to right field to give the Phillies the 6-5 win and a second straight win in the series.
The Braves’ magic number held at nine with 21 games to go, after their third straight loss.
“At least we left it all out there,” said Simmons, who had beat out an infield single in the eighth and got caught in a rundown trying to steal third. “We played our butts off. We battled back in the game. If we had more innings, we might have come back and won the game but unfortunately they ended it with a walk-off.”
Simmons had worked back from an 0-2 count before taking Papelbon deep to left on the eighth pitch of the at-bat.
“Try to stay calm late in the game - I learned that from Chipper last year,” Simmons said. “You’re at your best when you’re calm. I tried that today and it worked out really well.”
Simmons hit his third home run in the past four games and tried to erase what had been a second straight forgettable night from the Braves offense, which struck out 12 times in the first eight innings.
The Braves struck out 18 times against Cliff Lee and Kyle Kendrick combined in the first two games of this series. B.J. Upton went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in the leadoff spot.
The Braves were out-hit 11-4 through the first six innings against Kendrick and didn’t fare much better against Phillies middle relievers, striking out four times in a row against Justin De Fratus and Jake Diekman.
The Braves’ middle relievers, meanwhile, had to cover the final 3 2/3 innings after rookie left-hander Alex Wood failed to make it out of the fifth inning. The results from there were mixed, starting with word that left-hander Scott Downs suffered a fracture to the tip of his right ring finger on a comebacker by Chase Utley.
The fact that it’s his non-pitching hand has the Braves hopeful it’s only a day-to-day situation where he can pitch as soon as he’s comfortable getting into a glove again.
“We’re just going to call it day to day,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “I spoke to him before I did the press conference here and he goes ‘We’ll see how it feels tomorrow and go from there.’”
Luis Avilan gave up an RBI single from Kevin Frandsen to turn a one-run game into a 5-3 deficit in the eighth. The left-hander has been scored upon four times in his past 11 appearances after going 35 games without allowing an earned run.
Then Garcia, who had pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in his first two appearances as a Brave, gave up the Galvis homer on a change-up. Gonzalez typically doesn’t pitch closer Craig Kimbrel in a tie game on the road.
“I’ve done it both ways,” Gonzalez said. “I’m not going to say I don’t believe in it, it’s just one of those things that it all depends on the lineup coming up and that kind of stuff. He’s veteran enough that he could maneuver (around certain hitters). Just a pitch out over the plate.”
Wood was looking to get back on track after allowing a career-high seven runs in his last start against the Marlins. He was better, but not quite good enough, and Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz had plenty to do with that. Ruiz drove in three of the four runs off Wood, including a two-run single on a 2-2 pitch in the third.
The Phillies racked up nine hits in 4 2/3 innings against Wood, who walked three and struck out four.
The damage control that Wood used to put up a 0.90 ERA in five August starts has wavered to start September. After holding opponents to 0-for-24 with runners in scoring position in August, Wood has been hit at a 7-for-15 rate with runners in scoring position this month, including 3-for-9 Saturday by the Phillies.
“I pride myself on making pitches when I need to and these last two starts and really tonight, to Ruiz and then to Galvis, I didn’t,” Wood said. “We’re in September, trying to finish off strong and clinch the division, and from a personal standpoint and a team standpoint, it’s frustrating because I’m not doing exactly what I want to do when I go out there.”
