Knuckle Sandwich: Braves 3, Phillies 1

After one of their worst months in franchise history, the Phillies began June with a 4-2 record coming into this game. I wasn’t sure whether the May Phillies would show up to this game, or if their four game win streak had set some fire in their bellies (14-1 loss last night nonwithstanding).

The first inning gave me my answer: after swiftly going down in order to RA Dickey at the top, the Braves wasted no time in posting two runs on Phils starting pitcher Ben Lively. They came in the form of a Nick Markakis groundout to score Ender Inciarte and a Matt Kemp double to score Brandon Phillips.

Tommy Joseph began the second with a leadoff single, which was promising. He even advanced to second on a passed ball. But nothing came of that as Maikel Franco, Michael Saunders and Cameron Rupp went down quietly after that.

Speaking of going down quietly, Dickey was pitching a one hitter with seven strike outs all the way into the seventh inning. Lively put up a good effort, going seven innings and only giving up an additional run in the sixth in the form of a Tyler Flowers double.

Odubel collected yet another double to start the seventh, and was brought home by a Franco single to put the Phillies on the board. The Phillies threatened in the eighth by getting two men on base, via a Galvis single and a walk to Daniel Nava, but Arodys Vizcaino was able to get out of the jam.

In general, the Phillies looked pretty bad at the plate tonight, swinging at nothing and making several ill advised bunting attempts. The good news is that Lively had a pretty decent outing, at least.

Having split the series with the Braves, the Phillies are headed to St. Louis for three.