Foltynewicz, Braves pound Phillies
ATLANTA — Mike Foltynewicz began the year as Atlanta’s No. 5 starter. He’ll rank much higher following his second straight dominant start.
Foltynewicz allowed only four hits in seven scoreless innings, Nick Markakis drove in five runs and the Braves crushed Philadelphia 14-1 on Wednesday night to end the Phillies’ four-game winning streak.
Markakis had two-run doubles in the seventh and eighth as the Braves scored a combined 10 runs in the two innings. Dansby Swanson hit a three-run homer.
Foltynewicz (4-5) has thrown a combined 14 scoreless innings in his last two starts. He threw seven shutout innings, allowing only two hits, in a nodecision at Cincinnati on Friday.
Foltynewicz said he felt “very confident” on the mound as he relied on his fastball.
“My fastball had some life early in the game and it was one of those situations where I had a little bit of luck on my side,” he said. “There were a lot of hard-hit balls at people. The defense played great.”
Foltynewicz contributed to the defense.
The right-hander escaped trouble in the seventh after Tommy Joseph’s infield single and Maikel Franco’s walk. Michael Saunders hit a liner back to the mound which Foltynewicz snagged before throwing to second base for the double play.
“It almost took my glove off,” Foltynewicz said.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Foltynewicz is “making strides” toward consistency.
“I felt like when he cocked his arm he had a pretty good idea where the ball is going,” Snitker said.
The Braves, who lost the first two games of the four-game series, beat the Phillies for the first time in six tries this season.
Jerad Eickhoff (0-7) remained winless through 12 starts. It’s the longest stretch of starts without a win for a Phillies pitcher since Cliff Lee’s 13-game streak in 2012.
Eickhoff allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings. He said he was “rolling along” before giving up the three-run homer to Swanson in the fifth on “one bad pitch.”
“I can take this,” Eickhoff said. “I can handle (the losses). I feel that this was a building block.”
Pinch-hitter Daniel Nava’s single in the ninth drove in Odubel Herrera, who reached on his second double. Herrera has 11 extra-base hits, including nine doubles, in his last five games.