Braves bats pound Pivetta as rookie hurler shuts down the Phillies

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Rookie righty Bryse Wilson largely shut down the Phillies bats

The first-place Atlanta Braves (51-36) used a big six-run 6th inning to pull away from the visiting Philadelphia Phillies (45-41) and register a 9-2 win on Wednesday night at SunTrust Park.

With the win, the Braves pushed their lead in the National League East Division standings back out to 5.5 games (five in the loss column) over the second place Phillies, who are now just a half-game ahead of the third place Washington Nationals. The Phillies have not been lower than second place in the division standings all season.

The two teams were battling in a tough 3-2 game after the first 5 1/2 innings, with all of the runs coming via the long ball. Josh Donaldson ripped his 16th homer of the season in the bottom of the 4th inning, a three-run shot off Phillies starter Nick Pivetta, to open the scoring.

In the top of the 6th, Bryce Harper got the Phillies back within a run by blasting his 16th homer. For the Phillies big free agent signing, it was the 200th home run of his big-league career as well as his 1,000th career hit.

Phillies Nation@PhilliesNation

There was one bright spot tonight. Bryce Harper’s 16th home run of the season was the 200th of his big-league career, as well as career hit 1,000.

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10:12 PM - Jul 3, 2019

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Phillies head to Atlanta for key early July series with first-place Braves

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The Freeze will be doing his race thing this weekend in Atlanta

The Philadelphia Phillies (44-40) slumped during the month of June, and watched as the defending NL East Division champion Atlanta Braves (50-35) stormed past them to take over the division lead.

With the calendar flipped to a new month, the Phillies hope to make a clean start. They will try to begin pecking away at the Braves five-game lead in the loss column during a three-game series this week at SunTrust Park in Atlanta.

The two teams have met for two series in the 2019 season’s first half. At Citizens Bank Park in late March, the Phillies swept the Braves, setting the stage for the first two months which saw the Phillies hold the division lead for all but seven days.

In mid-June, Atlanta took two of three games in front of their home fans at SunTrust Park, winning the opener in walkoff fashion and then blowing the doors off the Phillies with a 15-1 thrashing on Father’s Day.

Phillies suffer humiliating Father's Day defeat at hands of the Braves

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Braves mascot stole Harper's money, players stole Phillies hearts

The host Atlanta Braves (42-30) completely dismantled the Philadelphia Phillies (39-32) by a 15-1 score, treating the fans at SunTrust Park to a real Father’s Day celebration.

With the win, the Braves open up a 2.5 game lead on the Phillies in the National League East Division standings. Atlanta has now won 12 of their last 15 games, and they are 24-10 since manager Brian Snitker installed 2018 NL Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuna Jr. as his leadoff man.

The Phillies were never in this one. Manager Gabe Kapler decided to go with Vince Velasquez in an “Opener” role, and it completely backfired. Velasquez (2-4) surrendered three runs in the bottom of the 1st inning to put the club into a hole from which they were never able to climb out.

Velasquez was followed to the hill by Cole Irvin, and the lefty was even worse. Irvin would go 3.2 innings, allowing six earned runs and letting the Braves score in every inning in which he was on the mound.

Next up, Jerad Eickhoff, meaning that Kapler used three pitchers who were in his starting rotation at one point in this season. Eickhoff was even worse than Irvin, if you can believe that, surrendering five earned runs in just one inning on the bump.

The Phillies most effective “pitcher” in this game? Utility man Sean Rodriguez, who tossed a shutout frame in the bottom of the 8th inning that included a strikeout.

Rather than just tick off each of the runs and prolong the agony for you readers, let’s just take a look down the Braves lineup. Acuna had four hits including his 16th home run and scored four runs. Josh Donaldson produced three hits including his 12th homer. Freddie Freeman had two hits, a walk, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Ozzie Albies had three hits, two runs, and two RBIs. Nick Markakis and Austin Riley each had a pair of hits, combining to score two runs and drive in three.

John Middleton will prove to be the key should Phillies quickly return to contention

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(Controlling owner Middleton needs to open the pocketbook wide)

For much of this past summer the Philadelphia Phillies appeared to be a team and an organization on the rise. The club bolted to first place and sat atop the National League East Division standings for more than a month. The teams within their minor league organization were also enjoying success.

But in the end, the Phillies collapsed to finish in third place with a losing record for the sixth consecutive season. And though three of the organization’s minor league affiliates reached the postseason, none were able to capture a title.

It was a disheartening ending to what as recently as early August seemed to be shaping up as a summer full of promise. Still, you might be excused for feeling that the Phillies organization was making positive strides and was now primed to contend for years to come.

Slow your roll.

By the failed stretch run, the Phillies were regularly starting a lineup where half the players were over 30 years of age. And in their most recent organizational rankings, the respected analysts at Baseball America had dropped the Phillies from sixth to 18th place. Just as importantly, the Phillies division rivals were on the rise.

The Atlanta Braves ran away with the National League East Division crown. The Braves are led by 28-year-old Freddie Freeman and feature a pair of dynamic young talents in second baseman Ozzie Albies (21) and left fielder Ronald Acuna (20) in their everyday lineup. Atlanta also has a boatload of talented young pitchers both at the big-league and minor league levels.

The Washington Nationals bolted past the Phillies to finish in second place. They may lose superstar Bryce Harper to free agency, possibly even to the Phillies. However, the Nats are likely to remain serious contenders thanks to the emergence of shortstop Trea Turner (25) and outfielders Juan Soto (20) and Victor Robles (21) along with their returning solid pitching.

Baseball America put the Braves at #5 and the Nationals at #12 in their organizational rankings. And it isn’t just those two teams that the Phillies appear to need to focus upon with concern.

The New York Mets suffered through an extremely disappointing campaign, one marred seriously by injuries. By the end of the year, New York had pulled within just three games of the Phillies in the standings.

The Mets lineup includes emerging young talents in shortstop Amed Rosario (22) and outfielders Brandon Nimmo (25) and Michael Conforto (25), while their talented young pitching features Noah Syndergaard (25) among others.

New York was rated at #19, just one place behind the Phillies, in the Baseball America organizational rankings. That was a jump up from 27th place on their previous list, revealing that the Mets organization appears to be on the rise.

There is no doubt that things are looking up for the Phillies as far as their own possibilities are concerned. There are a handful of talented young players and pitchers, and a few well-regarded minor league prospects. The club is positioned well financially to add impact free agents.

More the point for Phillies fans is that whether their team actually develops into a true contender for the next handful of seasons is not simply a matter of what their own team is doing. It is not simply a matter of whether Rhys Hoskins and Aaron Nola are joined by two or three more young players stepping forward to impact the on-field talent at Citizens Bank Park.

Phillies must smartly out-spend Braves to keep up with Atlanta's young talent

Acuna (20) will be a thorn in the Phillies
sides for years to come
(Photo: By Thomson200 via Wiki Commons)

In the end, that the Braves first overcame and then pulled away from the Phillies should not have been much of a shock. Atlanta has played far better baseball all season long.

My first MLB Power Ranking back on July 1 had the Braves as baseball’s fourth best team, second in the National League, while the Phillies were 23rd. While the Phillies would get as high as 16th, the Braves never dropped lower than 6th overall.

Those rankings consider not only the team’s win-loss record, but also their performances on offense, defense, and on the mound. The Braves now hold a 9.5 game lead in the standings on the Phillies, who are in danger of being passed by the Washington Nationals for second place.

A position-by-position comparison of the regulars for the two teams reveals that the Braves are simply a more talented ball club. In most cases they are also younger, showing that the Phillies rivals won’t be going away soon.

First base: 29-year-old Freddie Freeman (ATL) over 32-year-old Carlos Santana (PHI)

Second base: 21-year-old Ozzie Albies (ATL) over 28-year-old Cesar Hernandez (PHI)

Shortstop: 24-year-old Dansby Swanson (ATL) over 24-year-old, out-of-position Scott Kingery (PHI)

Third base: 24-year-old Johan Camargo (ATL) at least a push vs 26-year-old Maikel Franco (PHI)

Catcher: 34-year-old Kurt Suzuki (ATL) at least a push vs 25-year-old Jorge Alfaro (PHI), though if 31-year-old Wilson Ramos returns next year the edge goes to the Phillies

Left field: 20-year-old Ronald Acuna (ATL) over 25-year-old, out-of-position Rhys Hoskins (PHI)

Center field: 27-year-old Ender Inciarte (ATL) over 26-year-old Odubel Herrera (PHI), though for me if 25-year-old Roman Quinn is the Phillies everyday center fielder, it’s at least a push, maybe even advantage Phillies

Right field: 34-year-old Nick Markakis (ATL) over 25-year-old Nick Williams (PHI)

The Phillies are appreciably younger only at catcher and in right field. They are better behind the plate if Ramos is the Phillies catcher, even though Hoskins (with the bat only) and Quinn keep the Phillies competitive at their positions.

On the mound, 25-year-old Aaron Nola gives the Phillies the best starting pitcher in either rotation. However, Braves top starter Mike Foltynewicz (26) is pretty darned close. Atlanta’s Anibal Sanchez (34) out-pitched the Phillies Jake Arrieta (32) as the aging veterans in each rotation this year.

The Braves have a veritable parade of starting pitching options with a wide range of experience including Julio Teheran(27), Kevin Gausman (27), Sean Newcomb (25), Max Fried (24), Touki Toussaint (22), Kyle Wright (22), Luiz Gohara(22), Mike Soroka (21), Bryse Wilson (20), and Ian Anderson (20).

It’s an embarrassment of riches that the Phillies group of Vince Velasquez (26), Nick Pivetta (25), Zach Eflin (24), Jerad Eickhoff (28), Ranger Suarez (23), Enyel De Los Santos (22) may have a hard time matching up against.