Turner-ing the offense around: Phillies 13, Braves 0

Just needed a division opponent apparently

Sometimes, an opponent that you’re familiar with is all you need to see.

Not scoring runs in Houston was rough on the team and those who watched them. Partially a credit to the Astros’ pitching staff, but partially some just bad hitting, the Phillies just needed to see someone that they knew they could hit.

Enter Bryce Elder and the Braves.

After a lengthy rain delay that saw the Phillies abandon Mick Abel as their starter and have to employ the bullpen game approach, the game finally got underway around 10:00. In the first inning, facing Elder, Trea Turner doubled and Kyle Schwarber walked, then both stole second to give the team two runners scored to open things up. The next two hitters struck out, which put the Phillies in a familiar spot of late of needing someone to step up and deliver a hit when they needed one. Max Kepler walked to load things up, then was followed by another walk, this one to J.T. Realmuto and they were on the board before the threat was squelched.

After Tanner Banks set the Braves down in the bottom of the first, things really got fun. Two quick outs made the inning feel like it was going to be done in a hurry, but Turner stepped up and drove a ball over the fence for the increasingly rare Phillies home run to make it 2-0.

Schwarber walked again, followed by a single by Alec Bohm, bringing Nick Castellanos to the plate. He’s been ultra aggressive lately and tonight, it paid off.

In the third, Realmuto and Bryson Stott singled to begin it, then Otto Kemp got on the board with another home run, this one the first of his MLB career to make the sore 8-0.

Brandon Marsh doubled, then scored when Turner reached on an error and the score was 9-0. At this point, it felt like a fever dream that the Phillies were scoring all of these runs, but it indeed was not. This error finally drove Elder from the game, the Braves opting for a relief pitcher but it didn’t matter.

Kyle Schwarber saw to that.

Now, as mentioned earlier, the team went with a bullpen game because of the Braves’ and their inability to read a weather forecast. Not wanting to warm up the starter, sit him for a long time, then start him back up, the bullpen was forced into duty for the whole nine inning affair. They proceeded to shut down the Braves thanks to the work of Banks, Taijuan Walker and Alan Rangel (?). Sure they gave up a bunch of hits, but never was there a worry that this game would get out of hand. They were great, particularly Rangel, in stepping up to make sure that no further damage was done to the pitching staff on a night where it could have gone sideways in terms of usage.

In the ninth, Turner homered again, this one off of Luke Williams, a position player, to make it 12-0. Another run driven in by Kepler made it a baker’s dozen on the evening, something that felt impossible earlier in the week. Rangel finished up his outstanding outing by holding Atlanta off the board in the final frame and the game was over.

It was a welcome sight after the rough showing in Houston. While not a full blown emergency that we saw down south, it was disheartening to say the least. Getting over a dozen runs on the board will make help make things feel a lot better of course, so long as they keep it rolling.