Phillies stay hot, beat Braves 3-1
ATLANTA — Aaron Nola allowed a run in eight innings, Odubel Herrera doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth and the Philadelphia Phillies survived a ninth-inning scare to beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Nola (3-3) earned his first win since April 20 and became the Phillies’ first starter to pitch past the seventh inning this season.
Nola spent almost a month on the disabled list with a lower back strain before losing his three decisions in May.
The Phillies have won four straight games and are 5-0 against the Braves this season, including a three-game sweep at Philadelphia on April 21-23.
Howie Kendrick had three hits, including a homer in the fourth inning.
Hector Neris gave up one-out singles to Matt Kemp and Matt Adams in the ninth. Pat Neshek struck out Adonis Garcia and ended the game on Kurt Suzuki’s popup to catcher Cameron Rupp for his first save.
By winning their first two games at SunTrust Park, the Phillies took back-to-back road wins for the first time this season.
Nola gave up five hits. His eight innings matched the longest start of his career.
Cesar Hernandez led off the sixth with a double to left field off Jaime Garcia (2-4) and scored on Herrera’s double to the right-field corner for a 2-1 lead.
Herrera’s last nine hits have been for extra bases. He was 1-for-4, ending his streak of three straight games with two doubles, including two straight with two doubles and a homer.
Herrera moved to third on Kendrick’s single to right and scored on Garcia’s balk with Tommy Joseph at the plate.
Earlier in the day, Phillies Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt drew criticism for saying in an interview on 94 WIP-FM that Herrera’s language barrier prevents him from being a player the Phillies can build their team around. Schmidt later clarified his remarks in a statement.
“All I said was the language barrier he has now would make it difficult to be a team leader,” Schmidt told The Associated Press. “In the future when he learns to communicate better, he can be anything he wants.”
The 25-year-old Herrera speaks to reporters through an interpreter and isn’t as comfortable doing interviews as some of his Spanish-speaking teammates. Freddy Galvis, a fellow Venezuelan, is the team’s clubhouse leader.
Garcia allowed three runs and eight hits in 7 2/3 innings. The lefthander retired 11 consecutive batters to open the game before Kendrick’s two-out homer in the fourth tied it at 1. Kendrick’s homer, only his second of the season, landed about three rows deep in the left-center seats.
The Braves scored a first-inning run when Brandon Phillips doubled and scored on a single to left field by Nick Markakis. Kendrick’s throw from left was up the firstbase line, preventing a possible play at the plate.
Before the game, the Braves placed struggling starting pitcher Bartolo Colon on the 10-day disabled list with a strain in his left side. The team recalled righthander Jason Hursh from Double-A Mississippi to pitch in relief and has not named a replacement for Colon in Saturday’s doubleheader against the Mets.