Wright goes seven and only gives up one run as Braves beat Phillies, 4-1

Kyle Wright held the Phillies at bay for seven innings and the Braves racked up just enough offense to pick up a comfortable win over Philadelphia. This gave them their 21st win of June, which officially makes this one of the most successful June months that the Braves have ever had as a franchise.

It took a little bit of time before we saw some offense in this game, but the Phillies were the first team to make the run column light up on the scoreboard this evening. After failing to capitalize on a bases-loaded situation in the second inning, Rhys Hoskins took matters into his own hands once his turn came in the lineup. Hoskins ended up taking a fastball that was high and in the zone from Kyle Wright and hitting it off of the foul pole in left field. Philadelphia had the lead but it wouldn’t last for long.

Perhaps spurred on by the Phillies coming to life, the Braves did as well. Matt Olson racked up his second double of the game up to that point to lead off the fourth and while the Braves were unable to bring him in in the first inning, they pulled it off in this frame. William Contreras poked one to right field to cash in Olson from second base and eventually Adam Duvall (with Marcell Ozuna on third base) had an interesting sequence of events.

First, he chased a changeup out of the zone, put it into play and was initially ruled to have grounded into a double play. However, he clearly beat the throw to first base so despite the poor plate discipline, he managed to bring in Ozuna from third to put the Braves ahead. Duvall then got caught stealing to end both the inning and this mini-adventure of his.

The next two innings were basically the Kyle Wright and Ranger Suárez Show, as both starters traded scoreless innings while facing very little trouble from the opposition. That changed once the seventh inning rolled around, which is when the Braves finally got Suárez into some more trouble. Just when it seemed like Philadelphia’s starter was going to get through yet another inning unscathed, Adam Duvall had other ideas. With two outs and a two-strike count, Duvall took a fastball and curled it into fair territory around the foul pole in left field for a solo shot to give the Braves some breathing room.

Phil Gosselin came to the plate and extended Range Suárez’s two-strike, two-out troubles with a single that ended up running Suárez from the game. José Alvarado then came in and received a rude welcome from Michael Harris II. Harris’ single brought home The Goose from second base to give Atlanta even further insurance late in the game. Kyle Wright took that insurance and ended his night on a flourish, as he ended the seventh inning with his fourth strikeout of the game. Kyle Wright left the game with seven innings, three hits allowed, three walks and just one run allowed. This is the type of night that we’ve come to expect from Wright at this point, and this was yet another encouraging start in what’s been a breakout season.

Jesse Chavez pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Will Smith eventually got the ball with the score still 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. This is after Mark Appel (!!!) made his Major League debut in the top of the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning. While that was a fantastic moment and a testament to never giving up on your dreams, us Braves fans still wanted to see Atlanta finish this night off with a win. Sure enough, Will Smith tossed a 1-2-3 inning to shut down the Phillies and end the night on a winning note for the Braves.

The Braves have now tied their franchise record for wins in the month of June and the best part now is that they’re going to be playing on the final day of the month tomorrow for a shot to break the record. They’ll have a tough matchup pitching-wise with Ian Anderson taking on Aaron Nola, but the Braves have clearly shown that they’re up for any task that’s ahead of them at this point. It’s been a fantastic month for the Braves and hopefully we can see it continue for one last day tomorrow and into next month as well!