The Atlanta Braves snapped their three-game losing streak in dominant fashion Saturday night, defeating the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 at Truist Park. The win was fueled by a stellar outing from Spencer Schwellenbach and a game-changing grand slam from Sean Murphy.
Schwellenbach, 25, delivered the best start of his young career, tossing seven strong innings and allowing just one run on three hits with one walk. He struck out a career-high 12 batters, marking his fourth double-digit strikeout performance of the season.
Previously, he had tallied 11 strikeouts in back-to-back starts in late May and 10 back in early April. With this outing, Schwellenbach improved to 7-4 with a 3.09 ERA, and he’s now logged four straight starts of at least seven innings.
The Braves got on the board early. Ronald Acuña Jr. singled in the first and came around to score on hits from Matt Olson and Austin Riley. Atlanta added another run in the second when Eli White walked, advanced to third on Stuart Fairchild’s double, and scored on a Nick Allen single. Fairchild was thrown out at the plate, but the Braves still took a 2-0 lead.
Despite missing chances to extend their lead in the fifth and sixth innings, Atlanta stayed in control thanks to Schwellenbach’s dominance. The Phillies managed their lone run in the sixth on an RBI single from Alec Bohm after a Brandon Marsh hit and a Kyle Schwarber walk.
The pivotal moment came in the bottom of the seventh. With a slim 2-1 lead, the Braves loaded the bases with one out. That’s when Sean Murphy—who hadn’t homered in a month—launched a 455-foot grand slam on the first pitch he saw from reliever Jordan Romano. The ball left Murphy’s bat at 114.4 mph, giving him his 10th home run of the season and Atlanta’s first grand slam of the year.
Murphy’s blast gave the Braves a much-needed cushion. Raisel Iglesias struck out two in a scoreless eighth, and Rafael Montero wrapped things up in the ninth.
The victory improved Atlanta’s record to 38-44, while the Phillies dropped to 48-35 after losing four of their last five. The series finale is set for Sunday afternoon.
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