Phillies Fall To Braves, 9-2
ATLANTA (AP) — Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and rookie Evan Gattis homered, helping Paul Maholm and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-2 on Wednesday night.
Freddie Freeman had three RBIs as the Braves chased Roy Halladay in the fourth inning. Upton belted a two-run shot in the first to give him a pair of homers in his first two games for Atlanta.
Halladay (0-1), who struggled with a sore shoulder last season and had a difficult spring training, gave up five runs and six hits in 3 1-3 innings. The two-time Cy Young Award winner struck out nine, but dropped to 0-4 with an 8.00 ERA in his last seven starts against Atlanta.
The game was played in a steady drizzle, but the conditions hardly affected Paul Maholm (1-0), who allowed six hits in 5 2-3 scoreless innings. He struck out six and walked one.
Gattis led off the fourth inning of his first major league game with a drive to left. Maholm struck out, but Halladay's night was over after he issued a walk to Andrelton Simmons.
Raul Valdes came in and walked the next two batters before Freeman hit a bases-clearing double to make it 7-0. Freeman has driven in six of Atlanta's 16 runs in the first two games.
Maholm struggled last year against Philadelphia with an 8.64 ERA in two starts. But the left-hander stranded runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings in his first start of 2013.
Cory Gearrin replaced Maholm with a runner on first in the sixth. He walked one before striking out Erik Kratz.
The Phillies were just 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
Juan Francisco also singled in a run in the first as Atlanta quickly built a 3-0 lead.
Halladay recorded his first eight outs on strikeouts, but he needed 79 pitches to make it through the first three innings. He was trying for win No. 200 and a spot alongside New York Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte as the only active pitchers to be 100 games over .500.
Heyward tacked on a two-run homer against Jonathan Papelbon in the eighth.
Chase Utley had a two-run double in the seventh for Philadelphia. Utley appeared to score a third run in the seventh, but home plate umpire Mike Everitt called Michael Young out for runner's interference at first and the inning ended.
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