Lefty Adam Morgan took the hill against Paul Maholm and the Braves this afternoon in Clearwater. The Phillies put up a run in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead after Erik Kratz sent home Darin Ruf with a single. That was the first of three runs Darin Ruf would score this afternoon.
In the bottom of the fourth, Kratz crushed another double into center field, once again to score Ruf. To follow that, Laynce Nix scored from third on a groundout from Jermaine Mitchell. Finally, Kratz scored on a line drive single off the bat of Yunieksy Betancourt. 4-0 Phils.
With Morgan still on the mound in the fifth, Evan Gattis took him yard to lead off the inning, putting the Braves on the board. After 4.2 innings, Morgan's day was done. His line: 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K.
Atlanta tied it up in the top of the sixth with Chad Durbin on the mound following his 1/3 inning of relief prior. First, Chris Johnson singled and sent home Dan Uggla, cutting the Phils' lead in half. Next, Evan Gattis homered again to score Johnson, tying up the ballgame.
Raul Valdes came in for an inning of relief in the seventh and gave up a solo home run to B.J. Upton, which gave the Braves a 5-4 lead. Zach Miner allowed one run on three hits in the eighth inning, the run coming from a double play off the bat of Jordan Parraz. 6-4 Atlanta.
The Phillies came back in the bottom of the eighth. Kratz shot a homer over the wall in left field, bringing it to 6-5. Freddy Galvis later scored from third on a ground ball from Betancourt.
After a scoreless inning from Jonathan Papelbon, the Phils were down to the final out in the bottom of the ninth when Darin Ruf sent a ball past the Tiki Bar in left field, sending his team to a 7-6 victory.
Tomorrow afternoon, the Phils will visit the Orioles. Game begins at 1:05.
