Braves move to brink of NL East crown with rally in the seventh

ATLANTA » The Atlanta Braves moved to the brink of their first NL East title since 2013, bouncing back from Ronald Acuna Jr.’s defensive blunder with a five-run seventh inning that carried them past the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 Friday night.

Ozzie Albies sparked the comeback with a two-run homer and Johan Camargo finished it off with a twoout, two-run single, giving the Baby Braves a chance to celebrate as soon as Saturday afternoon with one more victory over the second-place Phillies.

Acuna misjudged Wilson Ramos’ liner to left in the top half of the seventh, turning what should have been an out into a two-run double. Pinch-hitter Jose Bautista tacked on a runscoring single, giving the Phillies a 4-1 lead. It didn’t last long. Tyler Flowers led off the bottom half with a single off Pat Neshek (3-2), and Albies followed with a drive into the right-field seats for his 23rd homer. Dansby Swanson walked and Lucas Duda followed with a pinchhit single before Neshek finally got an out — on a grounder that bounced off the third-base bag and was backhanded by Asdrubal Cabrera, who threw home to get Swanson trying to score.

That was only a brief respite for the Phillies. Luis Avilan took over for Neshek, only to give up a run-scoring double by Ender Inciarte into the right-field corner. With two outs and the bases loaded, Camargo came through on a 3-2 pitch by lining a two-run single to left to put the Braves ahead for the first time.

The Phillies dropped 7½ games behind the Braves, while the Washington Nationals were eliminated from the division race.

After giving up a leadoff homer to Cesar Hernandez, Atlanta starter Julio Teheran turned in one of his best outings of an inconsistent season. He didn’t allow another hit until pinch-hitter J.P. Crawford started the sixth with a triple off the right-field wall.

Teheran escaped that jam by striking out Roman Quinn, getting Hernandez on a grounder to second and retiring Rhys Hoskins on a fly ball to right.

But the Braves defense let Teheran down in the seventh. With one out, Justin Bour walked and Carlos Santana singled before Ramos sent a liner to left field for what should have been the second out. But Acuna misjudged the ball, realizing too late that it was over his head.

TRAINER’S ROOM

The Braves will likely want former closer Arodys Vizcaino to pitch in back-toback games before deciding whether he deserves a spot on a postseason roster.

UP NEXT

The Braves are skipping LH Sean Newcomb’s spot in the rotation, moving up RH Mike Foltynewicz (11-10, 2.90 ERA) to make Saturday’s start against Phillies RH Jake Arrieta (10-9, 3.77 ERA).

Newcomb has a 7.44 ERA over his last seven starts.

endangering his spot in the possible playoff rotation after he spent much of the season as one of Atlanta’s most effective pitchers. Newcomb will be available out of the bullpen for the remainder of the weekend but could still make another start in the final week of the regular season, according to manager Brian Snitker.

JOHN BAZEMORE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Phillies left fielder Rhys Hoskins can’t make the catch on a fly ball in foul territory off the bat of Atlanta’s Ender Inciarte during the fifth inning Friday in Atlanta.