ATLANTA -- Like the season’s first three games in Philadelphia, the worst inning of Mike Soroka's young career proved to be just a surmountable bump for the Braves, who have strengthened their National League East lead by taking advantage of their two recent opportunities to further damage the Phillies -- a team that led the division less than a month ago.
Soroka bent during the first inning of Thursday night’s 12-6 win, but then saw his teammates break the Phillies with yet another barrage of home runs. Dansby Swanson accounted for two of the five homers hit by the Braves, who also saw Freddie Freeman, Josh Donaldson and Ozzie Albies light the skies, long before a sold-out SunTrust Park crowd was treated to a postgame fireworks show.
“It’s nice to play well against anybody, but especially when [the Phillies] come to town," Swanson said. "To be able to put some complete games together is really nice. Every series is big. You can never take a series off because of who you’re facing. I felt like we were able to play really well these past couple games.”
After being blanked by Aaron Nola on Tuesday, the Braves claimed the final two games of this three-game set to finish it with a six-game lead over the second-place Nationals, who are ahead of the now-third-place Phillies (6 1/2 games back) for the first time this season.
The Braves have produced MLB’s third-best record since entering May 10 two games below .500 (18-20), and four games behind the first-place Phillies. Per Fangraphs’ postseason projection model, they had a 19 percent chance to win the division at the time.
Even though the Braves had started surging a few weeks earlier, they entered May 30 with just a 32.5 percent chance to win the division. They were still 3 1/2 games behind the Phillies, who have since lost 20 of 32 games, including four of the six games played in Atlanta.
After erasing a four-run first-inning deficit on the way to winning Thursday, the Braves found their odds to repeat as division champs projected at 72.9 percent. The Phillies’ odds have dropped all the way down to 2.8 percent, a descent few expected when they opened the season by sweeping the Braves in Philadelphia.
“We know that these games matter when it comes to the playoffs,” Soroka said. “They also matter for the team’s ultimate goal, which is to get to the playoffs and win a World Series. So putting ourselves in good position coming out of the regular season matters when we’re playing teams within our division, especially a really good team like the Phillies.”
Soroka has twirled plenty of gems on the way to producing the NL’s third-best ERA (2.42) and earning his first All-Star selection. But the 21-year-old right-hander’s most impressive effort of the season was seen through the moxy he showed after allowing the Phillies to tally six singles during a 36-pitch, four-run first.
This was uncharted territory for Soroka, who had allowed less than six hits in 11 of his 19 previous starts. But the mature rookie didn’t waver as he held the Phillies scoreless and allowed just three more hits over the remainder of his 4 2/3-inning outing, which consisted of 100 pitches.
“I wanted him to get that last out in the fifth, but it was all I could do to send him out for the fifth,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I told him, 'That might have been your best outing of the year.' Those young guys take something away from every time they pitch. There was a long way to go in the game. He regrouped and just went right back to doing his thing.”
Fangraphs’ Win Expectancy gave the Braves a 19 percent chance to claim victory after the top of the first. But things quickly changed as Ronald Acuña Jr. began the bottom of the first with a 13-pitch battle against Zach Eflin. Though Acuna's at-bat ended with a strikeout, Swanson followed with a solo homer to fuel Atlanta’s two-run first.
Swanson also capped a two-run second with his game-tying RBI double off Eflin, who exited shortly after allowing Albies’ go-ahead three-run homer in the third. Within a span of 11 batters, the Braves had erased their four-run deficit. Six batters later, they had what proved to be an insurmountable three-run lead.
Freeman and Donaldson extended the power barrage as they teamed up to record the 10th set of back-to-back home runs hit by the Braves this year (one shy of the franchise record) in the fourth.
Swanson’s three-run homer in the eighth was his 17th of the season (six shy of the career total he carried into the season), and the 140th hit by the Braves. This matches the 2003 club for the highest total in franchise history before the All-Star break, which is three games away.
Snitker stood and nearly walked to the mound to remove Soroka in the first. But he knew the rookie had the mental fortitude to quickly rebound. More importantly, he knew his homer-happy lineup had the firepower necessary to overcome the early adversity.
“How they came back is something I expected, to be honest with you,” Snitker said.