Wheeler gives Atlanta nothing
Six innings, nine strikeouts, three hits allowed. Zack Wheeler handled the Atlanta Braves overnight in Philadelphia, and the visitors finished the night with five hits in a 4-2 defeat.
Both Atlanta runs arrived alone. Ronald Acuna Jr. homered, Austin Riley homered, and neither had company on the bases. That is a thin evening for a lineup that had won nine of its previous 11 games, and it left the Braves without a single sustained rally against a starter who was working ahead all night. Wheeler improved to 12-5 and gave up one run.
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Number 41, and nobody in the majors is closer
Kyle Schwarber hit his 41st home run of the season. No hitter in either league has more. He added a second hit on the night, and Bryce Harper, Derek Hill and Luis Arraez each managed two of their own, which is how Philadelphia put four runs on a starter who never saw the fourth inning through.
Martin Perez lasted 3 2/3 innings for Atlanta and gave up four runs on seven hits. His record dropped to 8-9. The Atlanta bullpen held the line after that and the score stayed where Perez left it, but four runs was already more than the Braves were going to find against Wheeler.
The pattern of the game was set early and never really moved. Philadelphia’s four hitters with multi-hit nights did the work in the middle innings; Atlanta’s two runs came on swings that scored nobody but the man who took them.
Four games back, two still to play here
The result squares this four-game series at one win each. It also pulls Philadelphia to within four games of Atlanta at the top of the National League East, with two more meetings still to come at Citizens Bank Park this weekend.
That is the useful part for the Phillies. A division that looked settled a week ago now has a series in Philadelphia deciding how much of September is still live. Atlanta leads by four. Two games remain.
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