Compared to Friday, Atlanta's offense tonight was a snoozefest. They were facing Cole Hamels however, so it wasn't all that unusual.
The Phillies top the Braves 2-1 with one swing of Jimmy Rollins' bat in the seventh, and Atlanta falls back into a first-place tie with the Nats.
Aaron Harang pulled his magic act again, stranding Phillies base runners all over the place; Harang left two on in the first inning following a single and a walk, and then stranded the bases loaded in the third. Altogether, 10 Phillies were left on base in the game.
Hamels didn't have nearly as much trouble. He didn't allow a hit until two outs in the fifth and through six innings, both he and Harang hung a zero on the scoreboard. Harang walked three and allowed five hits.
When Jimmy Rollins batted in the seventh, he had flied out to Jason Heyward three previous times. Following that trend, he hit to right field again. This time, Heyward couldn't catch it as Rollins victimized Shae Simmons with a two-run homer.
Atlanta would get one of those runs back in their half of the seventh. After Freddie Freeman was robbed of a hit to start the inning, Justin Upton and Chris Johnson both hit doubles off Hamels to cut the lead to one. They wouldn't get any closer, seeing only five pitches from Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.
Hamels struck out nine in seven innings.
Chasen Shreve debuted for the Braves with two outs in the seventh, striking out Ryan Howard.
Win Expectancy