ATLANTA — Austin Riley hit a mammoth homer.
Then one other, to nearly the identical spot.
“I don’t think I’ve ever hit one that far in my life,” teammate Travis d’Arnaud marveled. “He did it twice.”
Riley‘s two long homers and d’Arnaud’s pinch-hit, two-run single within the eighth inning carried the Atlanta Braves to an 8-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday evening.
D’Arnaud, despatched up for slumping Michael Harris II with the bases loaded, lined a one-out single to left discipline off Gregory Soto (1-4) to interrupt a 5-all tie. Matt Olson added a sacrifice fly.
In the primary assembly between the NL East rivals for the reason that Phillies‘ upset victory within the 2022 divisional spherical, each groups displayed loads of energy to open a four-game sequence.
PHOTOS: Riley, d’Arnaud lead Braves to 8-5 win over Phillies in rematch of 2022 playoffs
No yet another than Riley, who had simply two homers in May however matched that in a single prodigious evening of slugging. He prolonged his hitting streak to eight video games, showing to be over a sluggish begin to the season.
A two-run shot within the first measured 459 toes. A solo drive within the fifth went an estimated 458 toes to primarily the identical spot, method up within the seats in left-center for the fifth multi-homer sport of his profession.
Riley grew to become simply the third participant to hit two 455-foot homers in a sport since Statcast began tallying distances in 2015, becoming a member of Willson Contreras (2019) and Trevor Story (2018).
“That was like a couple of birdies back-to-back,” Riley mentioned with a smile. “It feels good.”
Bryce Harper hit a large homer for the Phillies, launching a 445-footer off Dylan Dodd that sailed previous the Chop House restaurant in proper discipline. It was Harper’s fortieth profession homer towards the Braves.
Alec Bohm added a two-run shot for the Phillies. Marcell Ozuna went deep for the Braves, who grew to become the primary crew in almost 4 years to hit three homers off Aaron Nola.
Ozuna saved up his robust play since a dismal begin to the season led many to take a position the Braves would eat the remainder of his $65 million contract. In addition to his tenth homer, he additionally had an enormous hit within the eighth with a ground-rule double.
Ozuna was hitting .085 (5 of 59) on the finish of April. He’s 23 of 67 (.343) in May, elevating his common to .222.
Harper went small ball to spark a rally that tied the sport at 5 within the seventh. With two outs, he dropped an ideal bunt down the third-base line for a single, and wound up scoring on Kyle Schwarber’s double into the right-field nook off A.J. Minter.
Nick Castellanos additionally got here house and was initially known as protected on an in depth play on the plate. But a Braves problem led to the decision being overturned; the replay confirmed Castellanos’ lead foot on the slide missed the plate earlier than he was tagged by Sean Murphy on the other knee.
Dodd, a rookie known as up from Triple-A to make his fourth begin of the season in Atlanta‘s patched-up rotation, gave up 4 runs in 5 innings.
Nick Anderson (2-0) earned the win with an ideal eighth, and Raisel Iglesias picked up his fourth save in 5 probabilities.
Nola lasted six innings, giving up 5 earned runs to match his season excessive. It was the primary time he’s given up three homers in a sport since July 18, 2019, towards the Los Angeles Dodgers.
RILEY‘S D
While Riley‘s homers have been the star attraction, he additionally made a vital defensive play within the third.
With one out and the bases loaded, Bohm grounded one to the third baseman. He scooped it up, stepped on the bag and threw out Castellanos on the plate – the primary of two instances, it turned out, that the Phillies participant would get nailed going house.
“The defense saved my butt tonight, especially in the third inning,” Dodd mentioned. “That was awesome.”
OUTKAST NIGHT
Big Boi threw out the ceremonial first pitch on an evening when the Braves honored Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast.
Taking the mound sporting a classic No. 44 Hank Aaron jersey, Big Boi bounced his toss to the plate, the ball skipping by the bat boy despatched out to deal with the catching duties.
The crowd of 43,216 – the third-largest turnout in Truist Park historical past – obtained Outkast bobbleheads. There was no signal of the opposite member of the group, André 3000; the pair hasn’t carried out collectively since a 2014 reunion tour.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: LHP José Alvarado (elbow irritation) threw a bullpen Wednesday, in keeping with supervisor Rob Thomson, and is scheduled for an additional one Saturday in Atlanta. “If that goes well, he’ll probably throw some batting practice in New York,” Thomson mentioned, referring to a sequence that begins subsequent Tuesday towards the Mets. … C Rafael Marchan (fractured proper wrist) may start a rehab project Sunday, whereas 1B Darick Hall (proper thumb surgical procedure) is on target to begin his rehab project early subsequent week.
Braves: RHP Michael Tonkin went on the 15-day injured listing with a strained neck, clearing a spot on the roster for Dodd.
UP NEXT
The Braves will begin one other rookie within the second sport of the sequence. LHP Jared Shuster (1-2, 5.49 ERA) is about to face Phillies RHP Taijuan Walker (3-2, 5.79).
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