Ryan Howard can't beat Braves by himself: Braves 5, Phillies 1

Things didn't start well for Jerad Eickhoff and the Phillies tonight. Then, they continued not going well for a little while until the game came to its unwell ending.

Eickhoff was hoping to punch through the wet-paper Braves as a means to rebound from his last start. He did not. Very early on, with Atlanta scoring in the first three innings. Nick Markakis led off the game with a single, and would eventually come around to score, thanks to a peppering of hits and a Maikel Franco error. Mallex Smith got on base in the second and blitzed to third base on an errant Cameron Rupp throw during his stolen base attempt. He scored when Markakis sac flied him home.

His pitch count skyrocketing, Eickhoff came out in the third, and this time, it was Freddie Freeman who got on base and crossed home plate after a Kelly Johnson double and a subsequent sac fly.

Ryan Howard attempted to alleviate the deficit by opening the fifth inning with his 50th career home run against the Braves, snapping an 0-for-11 slump.

Most HRs hit by an opponent at Turner Field
Howard 22
Wright 19
Bonds 14
Piazza 14
Pujols 14
Burrell 13
Rolen 13
Uggla 13

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 12, 2016

Braves starter Williams Perez was only at 64 pitches by the sixth inning, and Howard's home run was really the only thing he wound up doing wrong, or the Phillies lineup did right, all evening. He wound up going eight innings and allowing only a pair of hits.

Meanwhile, Eickhoff departed after 4.1 innings, and Brett Oberholtzer came in, pitching an uncharacteristically clean 2.2 innings, giving the Braves just one hit. Elvis Araujo was given the bottom of the eighth, and Gordon Beckham used the opportunity to single and go to second on yet another error, this one on Odubel Herrera in center. That put him in a good position to score on Erick Aybar's double.

It was the top of the ninth when the Phillies offense roared to life with a pair of two-out singles. Maikel Franco got the chance to make the game a one-run contest, but struck out to end things. It was the Braves' eighth win of the season and second win at Turner Field this year.

They have played 18 games there so far.

The Braves still suck.