Mike Foltynewicz falters, rally falls short in Atlanta Braves 7-6 loss to Phillies

Down 3-0 in the series, the Braves were looking for a much-needed win in Philadelphia on Monday afternoon, but it wasn’t to be.

The Atlanta Braves (48-56) wrapped up their longest road trip of the season Monday, but fell once again to the Phillies who completed a four-game sweep with a 7-6 win.

Atlanta sent their best starter to the mound in Mike Foltynewicz, but he would suffer in a short outing and the Braves offense just couldn’t find their stride.

The Phillies finally got something going against Folty in the third inning with a Cesar Hernandez lead off triple, hit batsman, an RBI single from Tommy Joseph, and then a three-run homer from Odubel Herrera. The Braves finally got out of the inning, but with Philly up 4-0.

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Joseph got his second RBI of the game in the fourth inning, tagging Foltynewicz for his third hit of the game and scoring Freddy Galvis all the way from first base.

Folty finished the day after four innings of work, giving up five runs on seven hits, including a homer. He walked three and struck three out in the outing.

Atlanta’s bats couldn’t get any scoring action going through the first four innings, until a lead off triple from Danny Santana led to a sacrifice fly RBI from Johan Camargo with one out int he fifth, making the score 5-1.

Luke Jackson pitched a scoreless fifth. He was followed by Ian Krol who allowed a run in the sixth inning as Aaron Altherr grounded out to score Cesar Hernandez for his second run of the day.

Philadelphia’s Nick Pivetta kept Atlanta’s offense under wraps, giving up only the one run on three hits in six innings of work. He walked only one and stuck out five batters.

Also notable in the sixth inning was a noticeable amount of discomfort from Braves slugger Freddie Freeman, who looked to have trouble with his throwing shoulder from third base.  Freeman stayed in the game, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.

Kurt Suzuki continued his red-hot hitting with his 12th homer of the year in the seventh, scoring Nick Markakis, who reached on a leadoff walk. Lane Adams then drove in Santana with a sharp single to center, making it a 6-4 game.

Sam Freeman came in to face the Phils in the seventh, giving up a long solo homer to Maikel Franco to make it 7-4. It was the 14th homer allowed by the Braves in the last 80.1 innings in July.

Freddie, shoulder discomfort and all, hit a solo homer of his own to left field in the eighth inning to make it 7-5 Phillies. It was his 19th of the season.

Down by two runs, the Braves loaded the bases in the eighth with two outs, but Tyler Flowers couldn’t make a full count pay off as he struck out to end the inning.

After the Phillies failed to score in the eighth, Atlanta sent Inciarte, Phillips and Freeman up in the ninth. After Ender popped out on an infield fly, Hector Neris hit Brandon Phillips in the leg to bring Freddie Freeman to the plate as the potential tying run.

A walk to Freeman brought Matt Adams to the plate with one out as the possible go-ahead run, but Adams popped out in foul territory for the second out, bringing Nick Markakis to the plate.

Markakis drove in Brandon Phillips with a single down the line for his 1,998 career hit. Freeman moved up to third base on the hit, leaving the Braves down only 7-6. In the end, Kurt Suzuki popped out to left field to end the game.

The four game series sweep loss was the first by a Braves team in Philadelphia series since the 1949 season.

Next: Trade Deadline: Atlanta Braves that should go; Braves that should stay

The Braves will be back in action Tuesday night at home in Atlanta as the Los Angeles Dodgers come to town for a three-game set. The game is set to start at 7:35 EST.