Phillies Surge to Score 14 in Rout of Braves
The Philadelphia Phillies finished out a stellar month of June in spectacular fashion, as they plated 14 runs in a trouncing of their division rival Atlanta Braves.
It wasn't all fun and games to start the night, as Didi Gregorius committed a major flub to allow Atlanta to strike first. In the top of the second, after three soft pieces of contact unluckily landed for hits, Gregorius forgot the number of outs on the board, and passed up an inning-ending double play, allowing Austin Riley to score.
Thankfully, that was the only damage done in the inning, but an easily surrendered one-run lead felt mountainous given the Phillies' offensive performances from their last two games against the Braves.
But, we're talking about the 2022 Phillies, these guys are all about surprises.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Phillies' bats were set ablaze. The team exploded for seven runs, thanks to back-to-back RBI singles from Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott, a two-run double via Matt Vierling, and a drought-ending home run off the bat of Nick Castellanos. It was the slugger's first and last home run of June, and no player in major league baseball needed it more.
The Phillies followed up their cacophonous second inning with a homer-filled third, as Kyle Schwarber launched a three-run bomb to right center.
Rhys Hoskins also smashed a solo shot for good measure to round out the third inning, giving the Phillies a whopping 11-1 lead.
Rookie Darick Hall wanted to get in on the action too. Still in the hunt for his first major league hit, the 26 year-old stepped to the plate, and produced a moment he is sure not to forget:
The Braves would manufacture three more runs, as Michael Harris II took Aaron Nola deep for a two-run shot in the top of the fifth, and Adam Duvall would do the same with a solo shot in the top of the seventh, but those four runs would round out the scoring for Atlanta.
Aaron Nola was solid once again on Thursday, tossing seven innings of four run ball, walking one and striking out eight. He has been outstanding thus far into the season, and boasts an ERA of 3.13.
To round out the Phillies scoring, just when you thought his night couldn't get any better, Darick Hall did this:
It was a night to remember for the young slugger, who lived up to his promise of being a menace against right-handed pitching.
To say the Phillies needed a game like this would be an understatement. They salvaged a game against a division rival after a tough series, and will head into another difficult matchup versus the Saint Louis Cardinals on Friday.
It was imperative that the team end this series on a high note, and that is certainly what they did.
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