Philadelphia, PA (Best E Casino) - Chipper Jones had a pinch-hit three-run homer and the Atlanta bullpen threw nearly six effective innings as Atlanta thumped Philadelphia, 10-4, in the final meeting between the clubs this season.
The Phillies still won the season series, 14-4, but lost the final two contests of this three-game set to jeopardize their chances of winning the NL East. Philadelphia entered Wednesday's slate of games with a 1 1/2-game lead over the New York Mets, who play the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.
Atlanta won despite Jo-Jo Reyes making the start. The Braves had lost 11 straight games that Reyes began, but the young left-hander was limited to 3 1/3 innings, in which he gave up three runs on five hits.
Buddy Carlyle (2-0) took the win after getting the final two outs of the fourth inning, and was the first of five Atlanta relievers. The Braves bullpen allowed one unearned run over 5 2/3 frames.
Brian McCann finished with three doubles and a run batted in, while Kelly Johnson extended his NL-best hitting streak to 22 games.
Brett Myers (10-13) turned in his second straight shaky performance for Philadelphia. Five days after allowing 10 runs in four innings against the Marlins, he allowed six runs -- four earned -- on 10 hits in 4 1/3 frames to take the loss.
Chase Utley and Ryan Howard each homered for the Phillies, while Pat Burrell added two doubles and two walks.
Atlanta took control with a six-run fifth inning. With one out, Martin Prado walked and scored on a McCann liner that just sailed past a diving Jayson Werth in the right field gap.
After Casey Kotchman was intentionally walked, Chad Durbin entered as part of a double switch and induced a grounder to first from Omar Infante. But Howard, trying to turn a double play, threw the ball directly into Kotchman's back on the way to second base. McCann motored home and all runners were safe.
Durbin fanned Jeff Francoeur before Brandon Jones singled to left to plate Kotchman. Scott Eyre then came on to pitch to pinch-hitter Chipper Jones, who blasted a three-run homer to left field that gave the Braves a 9-3 lead.
Atlanta tacked on another run in the eighth on an RBI single from Prado.
Philadelphia had runners in scoring position in the eighth, and a passed ball allowed Burrell to score as Shane Victorino went to third, leading to a bizarre moment. Victorino took a big lead off third and Julian Tavarez sprinted off the mound over to third base to keep the runner close. After staring down each other, the two players started walking toward one another as though for a fight. The umpires intervened as the benches and bullpens cleared, but neither player was ejected and both were issued a warning. The extraneous players went back to the dugouts and bullpens without a punch thrown.
After the excitement was contained, Tavarez got out of the inning and Manny Acosta pitched a perfect ninth to end the game.
Myers was shaky from the outset, as he allowed a leadoff double to Josh Anderson and single to Johnson to put runners on the corners. Prado followed with a run-scoring hit. Kotchman later singled to bring in another run as the Braves went up 2-0.
Burrell doubled with one out in the second and scored on a base-hit from Pedro Feliz, but Chris Coste grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Kotchman's RBI ground out in the third gave the Braves a 3-1 edge, but solo homers from Utley in the third and Howard in the fourth tied the contest.
Game Notes
Utley's home run was his 33rd of the season, which set a career high...Jimmy Rollins stole his 46th base of the season, which tied a career high. He also stole 46 in 2001...Several hours before the game, three small packages were found outside Citizens Bank Park, wrapped in duct tape. The Phillies called the Philadelphia police, who sent a bomb squad to examine the situation. The Phillies franchise emptied the stadium, save for players, who continued to take batting practice and remain in the clubhouses. After an examination and detonation of the packages, it was determined they were filled with hot dogs or hot dog parts.
