Hoskins leads Phillies over Braves
PHILADELPHIA — Rhys Hoskins ended his homer streak but did drive in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning double, Aaron Nola pitched seven strong innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 6-1 on Monday night.
Cameron Rupp homered for the Phillies, who have connected in 10 straight games and totaled 21 homers in that stretch.
Rookie slugger Hoskins didn’t go deep after homering in five straight games while becoming the fastest ever to reach 11 home runs, doing it in 18 games and 64 at-bats. His double just inside the left-field line scored Nick Williams to put the Phillies ahead 2-1.
That was enough for Nola (10-9), who rebounded from two straight subpar outings by allowing one run and five hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Braves infielder Brandon Phillips had two hits to reach 1,999 in his career. Atlanta has dropped 12 of 14 games to the Phillies this season and all eight in Philadelphia.
Nola’s only blemish was Phillips’ RBI single in the sixth. Phillips held his bat in the air after the hit, perhaps thinking he had reached
the milestone. Phillips, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a fourth-inning single, had a chance to reach 2,000 but grounded out in the eighth.
Nola also got some help from his defense, as Williams robbed Freddie Freeman of a hit with a diving catch in right field in the sixth, and Maikel Franco
ranged far to his right at third to backhand Tyler Flowers’ ground and threw him out at first from well into foul territory.
After Hoskins’ double in the sixth, Franco gave the Phillies a two-run lead with a single to center. And Rupp led off the seventh with his 14th homer of the season.
Rookie Lucas Sims (2-4), making his sixth career start, allowed four runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in 6 1/3 innings.
Hoskins also singled in the eighth and is batting .309 with 11 homers and 25 RBIs in 19 games since his call-up from Class AAA Lehigh Valley on Aug. 10.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: LHP Ian Krol (left oblique strain) and RHP Luke Jackson (right shoulder strain) will take another step toward their return as both will pitch Wednesday in rehab outings. Each could come off the DL on Friday. Krol has been on the DL since Aug. 4 and Jackson since Aug. 19. … Johan Camargo (right knee bone bruise) flew to Florida to begin taking live batting practice. Camargo has been out since Aug. 9.
Phillies: Pedro Florimon fouled a pitch off his left foot in the third inning. He limped around the batter’s box for a few minutes but then drilled the next pitch into right-center for a triple.
UP NEXT
Phillies RHP Mark Leiter Jr. (2-3, 3.86) opposes Braves RHP R.A. Dickey (8-8, 4.06) in the second contest of the three-game set tonight.