Braves' Sean Murphy breaks Atlanta drought with massive bomb

The Atlanta Braves ended a three-game losing streak with a resounding 6-1 win over the first-place Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night at Truist Park, thanks to dominant pitching from Spencer Schwellenbach and a grand slam by Sean Murphy that blew the game wide open.

Spencer Schwellenbach delivered a career performance on the mound. The 25-year-old right-hander threw seven innings of one-run ball, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out a career-high 12 batters. This was his fourth double-digit strikeout performance of the season.

Schwellenbach previously struck out 11 in back-to-back outings on May 25 (vs. San Diego) and May 31 (vs. Boston), and fanned 10 batters on April 4 against Miami. With this latest outing, Schwellenbach improved to 7-4 on the season, lowering his ERA to 3.09 and notching his fourth straight start of seven-plus innings.

Article Continues BelowThe Braves’ offense gave him early support. Ronald Acuña Jr. opened the bottom of the first with a single and scored on a pair of hits from Matt Olson and Austin Riley. In the second, Eli White walked and advanced to third on Stuart Fairchild’s double. Nick Allen drove in White with a single to left, though Fairchild was thrown out at home by Max Kepler, keeping Atlanta’s lead at 2-0.

Even with multiple missed scoring opportunities, including leaving runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings, the Braves maintained control, aided by Schwellenbach’s dominant outing. The Phillies only managed to score once in the sixth, when Brandon Marsh singled, Kyle Schwarber walked, and Alec Bohm delivered an RBI single.

Then came the decisive moment in the seventh inning. With the Braves holding a narrow 2-1 lead, Marcell Ozuna, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies loaded the bases with one out. Sean Murphy, who had not homered in a month, stepped up and crushed a first-pitch slider from Jordan Romano 455 feet to left field. The ball left his bat at 114.4 mph and was Murphy’s 10th home run of the season, as well as Atlanta’s first grand slam of the year.

Murphy’s blast gave the Braves a commanding 6-1 lead, providing the breathing room they had lacked in recent games. Raisel Iglesias struck out two in a clean eighth, and Rafael Montero closed it out in the ninth.

With the win, the Braves improved to 38-44, while the Phillies fell to 48-35, having lost four of their last five games. The two teams will conclude the series Sunday afternoon.