Braves’ Phillips in hero role again
ATLANTA — Braves second baseman Brandon Phillips thought it was “epic” to deliver the game-winning hit for the second straight afternoon.
Having his dad in the stands at SunTrust Park on Father’s Day added to the thrill.
Phillips punched a ninth-inning single through a stacked infield to drive in Johan Camargo from third base Sunday, giving Atlanta a 5-4 win as the Braves took two of three in their series against the Miami Marlins. Phillips also hit the 10th-inning single that lifted Atlanta to an 8-7 victory Saturday.
“Yesterday was crazy, but today was one of those epic things,” Phillips said. “I never thought I’d have back-to-back walk-offs.”
Camargo hit a one-out infield single off Drew Steckenrider (0-1) and moved to third on Ender Inciarte’s line-drive single up the middle.
The Marlins called in Marcell Ozuna from left field to serve as an extra infielder positioned near second base for Phillips’ at-bat. That strategy made Phillips think about lofting a fly ball to the outfield.
“I didn’t get the ball in the air like I thought I was going to do,” he said, “but I’ll take it.”
Phillips, who is from the Atlanta suburbs, was traded to the Braves from Cincinnati for two minor league pitchers in February. A former star at Redan High School in Stone Mountain, he is hitting .306 this season and he became the first Atlanta player to drive in winning runs with game-ending hits on consecutive days in almost 30 years. Ozzie Virgil accomplished the feat on Sept. 18-19, 1988, against the Padres and Giants.
The Braves have won 11 games in their last at-bat, the most in the majors this season.
“It feels good, just being here … a dream come true,” said the 35-year-old Phillips, who added
“It feels good, just being here … a dream come true.” — BRANDON PHILLIPS
that his father, James, and two of his children attended the game.
Jim Johnson (5-1) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly said he gave the ball to Steckenrider, who was recalled from Class AAA New Orleans on June 10, because more experienced relievers needed a day off.
“The bullpen gets to a point where you use a lot of guys, so he’s in that situation today,” Mattingly said. “Probably a tough situation for him to be in today. Still, he’s got to throw strikes. He’s calm out there, so it’s not really a bad situation, just not so good right now.”
The Braves took a 4-2 lead by scoring four runs in the seventh, when Nick Markakis slapped a tiebreaking two-run single down the third-base line. The Marlins pulled even on Ozuna’s two-run homer off Jose Ramirez in the eighth.
Miami right-hander Jose Urena allowed two hits through six scoreless innings before he was pulled after giving up singles to Kurt Suzuki and Dansby Swanson to open the seventh. David Phelps gave up a sacrifice fly by Rio Ruiz and a pinch-hit single by Camargo that tied it at 2-all.
The game’s first runs came when Justin Bour singled off Mike Foltynewicz with the bases loaded in the sixth for a 2-0 lead.
Six innings was all Atlanta manager Brian Snitker saw from the dugout. He was ejected by home plate umpire Chris Segal for arguing a called third strike on Matt Adams to end the inning.
“I thought the ball was up. He didn’t agree with me,” Snitker said after his second ejection of the season.
Urena hit three batters with pitches. There was no retaliation from the Braves, though Foltynewicz threw an inside pitch that forced Urena, who was trying to bunt, to jump back in the third inning. Foltynewicz allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks in six innings.