Atlanta Braves Lose Series to Phillies
By Fred Owens
Apr 26, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) gets ready to flip the baseball to first base during the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Freeman was charged with an error allowing Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis (13) (not pictured) to score. The Phillies defeated the Braves, 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Good for the Braves
In spite of a rough first inning Trevor Cahill didn’t pitch that badly. He went six innings, threw 87 pitched – 49 for strikes – and struck out two. He induced 10 groundball outs against just one fly ball out indicating he’s starting to get that sinker back on track. Giving up a home run to Ryan Howard isn’t a sin, Howard is still a good power hitter particularly against the Braves.
Freeman hit two opposite field doubles and it looks like his bat is waking up.
Simmons went 2-5 and hit the ball hard to all fields.
The bullpen held the line. Were it nor for Freeman’s error no runs would have scored after the fifth.
Not so Good for the Braves
The offense continues to sputter against mediocre pitching. Of the starting nine only Markakis, Gomes and Simmons are hitting over .250. Nine men were left on base and the Braves went 3-11 with RISP. Coming into today the Phillies were giving up 4.39 runs a game yet the Braves couldn’t break through the very hittable Williams.
Freeman continues to struggle in the field. the usually sure handed first baseman committed an error for the second straight game.
While Cahill improved he too many pitches in the hitting zone to be effective against a better lineup.