PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on Alec Bohm’s sacrifice fly, and the first-place Philadelphia Phillies defeated the fourth-place Atlanta Braves 2-1 in a matchup of National League East Division rivals on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Schwarber, who became the 21st player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game Thursday as the Phillies won 19-4 to open the four-game series, hit a one-out single in this one, hustled to third base on Bryce Harper’s single off Dylan Lee (2-4), then scored on Bohm’s flyout to right field off Pierce Johnson.
Jhoan Duran pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save in nine chances since joining Philadelphia at the trade deadline last month. It’s his 24th save in 26 tries overall this season.
Orion Kerkering (7-4) tossed a scoreless eighth after Matt Strahm and David Robertson didn’t allow a run in one inning each. Phillies starter Ranger Suárez tied his season high with 10 hits allowed, but the left-hander surrendered just one run — thanks in part to three inning-ending double plays.
The loss negated a strong outing by Braves starter Bryce Elder, who allowed one run on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts in seven innings.
Schwarber grounded out, walked and popped out to shortstop before his eighth-inning hit. He leads the NL in homers (49) and RBIs (119) and received “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants when introduced by public adress announcer Dan Baker.
Matt Olson had three hits for the Braves, who finished with 12. Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Sean Murphy each had a double for Atlanta.
Philadelphia had just six hits a night after scoring 19 runs on 20 hits, including seven homers and 10 extra-base hits, but it was enough to secure at least a split of this weekend’s series. The Phillies clinched the season series against Atlanta with Friday’s win, improving to 7-4 against the Braves with two to go.
Harper extended his hitting streak to 12 consecutive games with a fourth-inning bunt single after the Braves shifted to the left-handed batter’s pull side.
The likely starting pitchers for Saturday’s game are left-handers Cristopher Sánchez (11-5, 2.66 ERA) for Philadelphia and Chris Sale (5-4, 2.52) for Atlanta. Sale, the 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner, is expected to be activated from the 60-day injured list to make his first start since June 18, having recovered from a rib fracture.