Missing two injured regulars, the Atlanta Braves came out swinging.
Ozzie Albies hit a grand slam, Ronald Acuña Jr., Ender Inciarte and Adam Duvall also homered and Atlanta routed the Philadelphia Phillies 15-7 Saturday night.
The Braves pounded struggling righty Zach Eflin (7-11) for 10 runs in less than three innings. His stats over the past six starts — 10.46 ERA — look worse than the “Saturday Night Special” burgundy, throwback uniforms the Phillies wore for the second time in team history.
“It’s tough losing one of your leaders,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said about right fielder Nick Markakis breaking his wrist. “It was a good game to come out and score a lot of runs on the heels of what happened.”
Shortstop Dansby Swanson also was placed on the injury list before the game, but Atlanta’s offense didn’t miss a beat.
“It feels good,” said Duvall, who was 3 for 5 with two homers in his season debut. “One through nine, it was impressive to be part of it.”
Max Fried (11-4) allowed four earned and seven hits, striking out six in 5 1/3 innings in his first start since returning from the injury list because of a blister on his left index finger.
“He let that one inning get away from him,” Snitker said. “You can’t let off the throttle one bit against teams like this.”
The NL East-leading Braves have won two in a row after losing six of eight. They have a 6 ½-game lead over Washington.
J.T. Realmuto and Sean Rodriguez hit two-run homers for the Phillies, who fell 7 ½ games behind Atlanta but remain in the mix in the wild-card race.
Since the Phillies swept a three-game series against Atlanta to start the season, they have lost six of eight to the Braves and been outscored 74-34.
“It’s unacceptable and we have to play better,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said.
Eflin ran into trouble after retiring the first two batters in the second. Tyler Flowers hit a single before Inciarte drove a 1-2 pitch out to right for his third homer in 136 at-bats. Eflin walked Fried and Acuña then launched his 25th homer into Atlanta’s bullpen in deep right-center field.
Josh Donaldson had an RBI double to start the scoring in a seven-run third and Albies finished it with a slam off Ranger Suarez on an 0-2 pitch.
Eflin gave up six earned and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings.
“It’s my job to figure it out and get back to doing what I was doing,” said Eflin, who had a 2.83 ERA before his slide started.
The Phillies previously wore their all-burgundy unis in a 10-5 loss to the Montreal Expos on May 19, 1979, and didn’t wear them again until now.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Braves are 32-20 on the road, the best record away from home in the NL.
FRUSTRATED FANS
Bryce Harper heard boos after his third strikeout of the game and 126th of the season. Several E-A-G-L-E-S chants broke out throughout the game.
STREAKING
Acuña extended his on-base streak to 31 games, the longest active streak in the majors.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: Markakis suffered a broken left wrist when he was hit by a pitch Friday night. Snitker said Markakis won’t need surgery and could return in six to eight weeks. Swanson has a bruised right foot. Snitker is hopeful Swanson will return when he’s eligible to come off the injured list. His stint is retroactive to Wednesday.
Phillies: RHP Tommy Hunter was transferred to the 60-day injury list.
UP NEXT
RHP Aaron Nola (8-2, 3.64 ERA) starts for the Phillies and RHP Kevin Gausman (3-5, 5.71) goes for Atlanta in the series finale Sunday.
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