Camargo comes through in the clutch as Braves beat Phillies, 6-5

A seesaw seventh inning really shook this game up, but eventually the seesaw slung the Phillies off of it and the Braves were the ones left on the machine after scoring five runs in the seventh to eventually win 6-5.

Like an old car sputtering to get going on a frigid morning during the Winter, that’s how Julio Teheran has been when it comes to the first inning of games this season. He was once again victimized in the first inning by his opposition and it happened on the very first at-bat as Cesar Hernandez capped off a seven-pitch battle by sending a fastball into the Chop House to give the Phillies the early advantage.

After that shaky start, Julio Teheran settled into things and really got into a groove for the next few innings. While that was going on, it only took the Braves until the third inning to get back into the game, themselves. After they escaped a situation in the top of the third inning where a Phillies runner once again found himself tagged out after sliding off of the bag, the Braves made the Phillies pay for losing that scoring opportunity by cashing in on a scoring chance of their own.

A single from Ronald Acuña Jr., a wild pitch and then another single from Freddie Freeman resulted in the Braves tying the game at that point.

The next three innings flew by as Teheran and the combination of Nick Pivetta and Seranthony Dominguez proceeded to mow down their opposition with little-to-no problems. Indeed, it was the seventh inning where this game had a major turning point for both teams.

Going into that crucial seventh inning, Julio Teheran had only given up two hits and one walk but then Justin Bour arrived and added another walk to that tally after just four pitches. Even though Bour didn’t bludgeon the Braves like he’s prone to doing, his walk ended up starting up a rally and the Phillies eventually pushed his pinch runner and Carlos Santana across the plate with a tiebreaking two-run double from Wilson Ramos. After Odubel Herrera got an intentional walk, our dear old friend and former Braves legend Jose Bautista delivered a pinch-hit single to make it 4-1. Just like that, Julio Teheran’s night was done after a hard-luck inning and the Phillies seemed to have had a breakthrough.

However, if we’ve learned anything about the Braves during what’s been a wonderfully fun season, it’s that this team will not roll over and die in the latter stages of a game — you’re going to have to work all the way until the 27th out in order to beat this team. Sure enough, the Braves responded to Philadelphia’s big inning by starting a rally of their own. Ozzie Albies broke out of his slump in a big way after he gave the Chop House its second souvenir of the night. His two-run dinger put the Braves back in it and the comeback was on.

Atlanta kept things going and Ender Inciarte eventually came up to the plate with runners on first and second and just one out. He kept the rally going by looping one into right field for a game-tying double. The deficit had been erased and there was a feeling that we were going to see something special in this frame.

That special feeling was warranted once Johan Camargo came up to bat with the bases loaded and two out. Either former Braves reliever Luis Avilan was going to preserve the tie for his current team, or Camargo was going to come through in the clutch. We got the latter!

A three-run deficit turned into a two-run lead and SunTrust Park was as loud and electric as it has ever been in its young age. It sure seemed like the five-run inning from Atlanta immediately after a three-run inning from Philadelphia was a backbreaker for the Phillies, and they didn’t respond in the eighth inning.

Philadelphia did show some life in the ninth inning after Maikel Franco cashed in Jorge Alfaro’s triple to cut Atlanta’s lead down to one. However, A.J. Minter kept his nerve and got the next two batters out to officially cut the Magic Number down to just 2.

Additionally, Jacob deGrom finally got some help from his teammates and that was what eventually doomed the Washington Nationals to a defeat that cemented their elimination from the NL East race. It’s now down to just the Braves and Phillies and at this point, the Braves are tantalizingly close to punching their ticket to October.