Braves slay Kendrick, win 4-2

Julio Teheran is the Braves ace and one of the best pitchers in the National League. Teheran dominated the Phillies on Friday night and that dominance combined with Freddie Freeman’s offense lead the Braves to a mostly comfortable 4-2 victory.

The Braves started strong with their perfectly constructed awesome lineup in the first inning. Both BJ Upton and Andrelton Simmons reached base off of Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick. Freddie Freeman then proceeded to smash a home run to straightaway centerfield and ten pitches into the game the Braves were up 3-0. Jason Heyward and Justin Upton would both also reach and a rout was in the offing early before Kendrick was finally able to settle down and escape the inning without further damage.

Freeman would add another run in the second inning doubling home Simmons at which point Kendrick seemed to remember he owned the Braves. The Braves wouldn’t score again and Kendrick was able to go 8 innings of strong pitching to save the Phillies taxed bullpen and keep his team in the game. Only scoring four runs after the early noise was slightly disappointing but with Julio Teheran on the mound it proved to be enough.

Teheran was in total command with his only struggles coming in the 4^th. Ben Revere tripled and scored on a subsequent groundout. A single and a Simmons error set the stage for a Marlon Byrd line drive to bring home a second run but that was all the Phillies would manage. After his tough fourth Teheran was in destroyer of worlds mode for the next three innings getting ten of the next 11 batters he faced half of them on strikeouts. Teheran was lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the 8^th inning to finish his night with 7 innings of two run ball, with nine strikeouts and no walks.

Jordan Walden and Craig Kimbrel both let the Phillies threaten before snuffing out their respective rallies. With a runner on Kimbrel allowed a ball to be smoked to center that the park barely held and BJ Upton made an excellent play on to catch. The Braves took the first game of the series and will look to sweep Saturday’s double header.

• Evan Gattis exited in the first inning with what was described as a muscle strain. The big man apparently swung too hard (understandable) and was described as day-to-day.
• Dan Uggla got a hit so everyone go buy a lottery ticket.
• BJ Upton continues to play good defense at a premium position and made a key play in the ninth to secure the win. Through all the struggles he does that. He even had a hit today and scored a run so that’s fun.
• Why can’t Tom Hart be in the booth for every game?