Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Jason Heyward and Chipper Jones both homered on
Sunday, as the Braves downed the Phillies, 6-2, to complete a three-game
sweep.
Tim Hudson (10-4) earned the win, allowing two runs on seven hits with five
strikeouts and no walks over 5 2/3 innings. He is 6-1 over his last eight
starts.
Freddie Freeman drove in a pair during a three-run seventh inning, helping the
Braves record their sixth straight victory over the Phillies.
Overall, Atlanta has won five in a row and eight of its last 11 games.
The Phillies, who had won four straight entering the series, were swept at
Turner Field for the first time since May 31-June 2, 2010.
Roy Halladay (4-6) picked up his 2,000th career strikeout, but did so in a
losing effort. He was charged with three runs on six hits with one walk and
seven K's over six frames and has yet to earn a win since retuning from the
disabled list on July 17.
"We owe it to the fans, we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to a lot of people
in the organization to go out and turn things around and play better
baseball," said Halladay. "It's gonna be hard and obviously we're in a
substantial hole, but we need to prove some things to ourselves."
The two-time Cy Young Award winner became one of four active pitchers with at
least 2,000 strikeouts, joining Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia and Kevin Millwood.
Shane Victorino went 3-for-4 with a homer and also scored on Carlos Ruiz's
sixth-inning single.
Halladay's milestone strikeout came in unusual fashion and epitomized a less
than stellar opening frame for the Phillies ace. After retiring the first two
batters he faced, the righty surrendered a first-pitch line drive homer to
Heyward -- his 16th of the season.
A single and a walk followed before Dan Uggla drove home Jones with a double
to left.
Strikeout No. 2,000 came on a splitter in the dirt, at the expense of a
swinging David Ross. The Phillies began exiting the field, but Ruiz failed to
tag Ross, who made his way to first base, effectively loading the bases.
A perplexed Halladay then returned to the mound and induced Paul Janish into
an inning-ending popout.
Jones' homer in the third came on the first pitch of the inning. It was the
10th homer of the season for the veteran third baseman, who moved past Pete
Rose and into sole possession of second place on the all-time extra-base hits
list for switch hitters (1,042).
Victorino led off the fourth with his first homer since June 8, then scored on
Ruiz's two-out single in the sixth. The line drive to center knocked
Hudson from the game and marked Philadelphia's first hit with a runner in
scoring position in the series.
Hunter Pence followed with a pinch-hit single off of Jonny Venters but Chad
Durbin retired John Mayberry, who was also pinch-hitting, to end the inning.
In addition to Freeman's two-run base hit, the Braves got a run in the seventh
when reliever Jake Diekman misplayed Heyward's grounder, allowing Tyler
Pastornicky to cross the plate.
"They beat up on us a lot last year and they beat up on us when I was with the
Marlins for the last few years, so it feels good to get the sweep and keep
going in the right direction," said Uggla.
Game Notes
Jones trails Eddie Murray (1,099) for the all-time lead in extra-base hits for
a switch hitter...Uggla snapped an 0-for-21 slump with his first-inning
double...Victorino had gone 152 at-bats between home runs...The Braves are now
57-1 on the season when taking a lead into the seventh inning or later, which
is the second-best record in the major leagues behind the Pirates.
The Sports Network