The Braves finished their regular season off in a good way on Sunday afternoon by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 12-5.
The Braves crushed out seventeen hits in the game. Gerald Laird had the biggest day as he had four hits and scored four runs in the victory. Evan Gattis added three hits, including his 21st home run of the year in the first inning, Andrelton Simmons also added three hits and drove in a run. Elliot Johnson had two hits and led the Braves with five RBI's in the win, Freddie Freeman also had two hits and drove in a run. Freeman finished the year batting .319 with 109 RBI's, the most RBI's by a Brave since 2006. Jose Constanza had a hit and drove in two runs, Justin Upton and Julio Teheran also added a hit apiece.
Teheran pitched well enough to earn the victory and improve his record to 14-8, but it wasn't his best outing of the year. He went five innings and gave up four runs on six hits including a three-run homer to Erik Kratz. Luis Avilan then pitched a scoreless sixth inning for Atlanta. Luis Ayala struggled and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in the seventh before Alex Wood came in and recorded the final out of the inning. David Carpenter came in and struck out two in a perfect eighth inning and then Craig Kimbrel retired the side in the ninth to close out the victory.
The Braves finish the year with a 96-66 record. They ended up being the second place team in the National League behind the St. Louis Cardinals meaning Atlanta will play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the Division Series. The first game will be played in Atlanta on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Kris Medlen (15-12) is expected to start that game for the Braves against the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw (16-9).
Evan Gattis hits a two-run homer in the first inning in the Braves' 12-5 victory over the Phillies on Sunday in their regular season finale.
Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press
The Braves staged a late comeback in the ninth inning on Saturday night, but it wasn't enough as the Phillies won 5-4.
The offense had twelve hits in the game but could only muster a sacrifice fly and a three-run homer in the ninth. Justin Upton led the team with four hits in the game, including the homer in the ninth which was his 27th of the year. Freddie Freeman added two hits and an RBI with the sac fly and Gerald Laird also had two hits in the game. Jason Heyward, Evan Gattis, Elliot Johnson and Jose Constanza each had a hit apiece in the loss.
Mike Minor started the game and was decent, but he didn't get any offensive support as his record fell to 13-9 on the year. He pitched six innings and gave up two runs on five hits and struck out six batters. Jordan Walden then came in and gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits while striking out two before Scott Downs got the final out of the seventh. Anthony Varvaro then came in and gave up a run in the eighth on three hits before Alex Wood retired the final batter of the inning. Kameron Loe entered the game in the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning.
The Braves are now 95-66 on the season and they will play their final regular season game tomorrow at 1:35 p.m. against the Phillies. Julio Teheran (13-8) will start the finale against Zach Miner (0-1) for the Phillies.
Justin Upton rounds the bases after his three-run homer in the ninth, but the comeback fell short as the Braves lost the game 5-4.
Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports
Kris Medlen and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies and Cliff Lee 1-0 on Friday night in a classic pitching duel.
The Braves recorded only three hits in the game. Freddie Freeman and Andrelton Simmons each had a hit, but the biggest was the third and final hit in the eighth inning. Chris Johnson hit a solo homer, his twelfth of the year, off of Lee that proved to be the winning and only run of the game.
Medlen was masterful in his final outing of the season as he improved his record to 15-12 on the year. He pitched eight innings and gave up two hits while striking out seven batters. Craig Kimbrel then struck out two batters in the ninth as he earned his 50th save of the season. The 50 saves also is a new career-high in a season for Kimbrel.
The Braves are now 95-65 on the year and they will take on the Phillies again tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m. Mike Minor (13-8) will take the mound for the final time this regular season against Ethan Martin (2-5) of the Phillies.
Kris Medlen delivers a pitch in his masterful performance against the Phillies on Friday night in the Braves' 1-0 victory.
Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press
