Philadelphia Phillies Drop Series with Atlanta Braves

The Philadelphia Phillies (74-53) dropped game three of their mid-week series to the Atlanta Braves (68-59). It was a series that could be an early playoff preview and it more than lived up to the hype.

Sanchez's Night

Cristopher Sanchez (9-9, 3.51 ERA) was not as sharp on Thursday as he was in his last start. Sanchez allowed nine hits and walked one across six innings. One of the hits Sanchez allowed was a home run to Adam Duvall in the sixth inning.

Despite the inflated hit totals, Sanchez generated 17 whiffs and 15 called strikes for a CSW of 34 percent on his 95 pitches. This would help Sanchez reach eight strikeouts on the night.

Notables

• Sanchez collected another Quality Start on Thursday. It was his 14th of the season.
• Weston Wilson committed three defensive gaffes at third base. They were ruled hits, but they should have been errors.
• The winner of all three games in this series scored three runs.
• Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach struck out nine Phillies batters on Thursday night. The Phillies struck out 32 times across the three games in this series.

WPA Leader of the Night

Thursday's WPA leader of the night was Braves reliever Pierce Johnson . Johnson relieved Schwellenbach with two outs in the seventh inning and pitched through the eighth before turning the game over to the closer.

Johnson allowed no runs on no hits and two walks while striking out two in his 1 1/3 inning. His WPA score would finish at 18.3.

Next Up

Next up for the Phillies is a three-game weekend series with the Kansas City Royals (71-56) that begins on Friday. The first pitch for Friday's game is scheduled for 8:10 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on NBC 10 and Bally Sports Kansas City.

Phillies fans can listen to the game on 94 WIP or WTTM 1680.