Stott to trot: Phillies 6, Braves 4

The Phillies looked to be on their way to their fourth straight loss since the All-Star break. Their defense was poor, the offense couldn’t get much going, and there weren’t many signs of life. But with two outs in the eighth, rookie Bryson Stott hit a go-ahead three-run home run, propelling the team to a 6-4 win over the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves got out to an early lead thanks to some trademark poor defense on the part of the Phillies.

The error was charged to Johan Camargo, but Rhys Hoskins appeared to be just as much to blame. If that wasn’t bad enough, Ranger Suarez then allowed another runner to score via wild pitch, giving the Braves a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Stott got the Phillies on the board with an inexplicable RBI double.

J.T. Realmuto tied the game the following inning with an RBI single, but after that, the Phillies bats went cold for a few innings against Max Fried and the Braves’ bullpen.

Suarez didn’t allow any earned runs, but as he’s still working his way back from an injury, he was lifted after five innings. Conor Brodgon gave up a run (on a two out infield single) in the sixth, and with the Phillies’ offense gone silent, it looked like that was going to be the difference.

But with two outs in the eighth, Alec Bohm (three hits in the game) singled, and Yairo Munoz followed with an infield single. This brought Stott to the plate, and with a full count against A.J. Minter, he delivered the first big hit for the Phillies since the first half ended.

Seranthony Dominguez finished things off without incident in the ninth, and the Phillies came away with a win that felt as important as it was improbable. The win put them within half a game of the final wild card spot, and if they still have designs on a division title, every game against a division opponent is crucial. It would be nice if the Phillies could put together a more complete effort over the remaining games of the series, but if players like Bohm and Stott want to keep supplying dramatic, clutch hits, I suppose I can’t complain too much.