June 27 2014, 11:05PM EDT.
@Philabaseball
PHILADELPHIA - Freddie Freeman homered, doubled and drove in all four Atlanta runs to back Julio Teheran’s strong pitching as the Braves beat the Phillies 4-2 Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Teheran allowed two runs — one earned — and six hits in seven innings. He struck out nine, walked none and retired his final seven batters for Atlanta.
The loss dropped the Phillies to seven games below .500 and left the club five games behind the top spot in the NL East. "It's getting close to July here," Phillies third baseman Cody Asche said. "You've got to start making moves. We have a good chance with three games left with the Braves to make a little bit of a statement here. Hopefully, we can take advantage of these three games and set the tone for our [upcoming 10-game] road trip."
The Braves jumped on Kyle Kendrick in the first inning thanks to Freeman’s three-run drive. Freeman’s RBI double in the second boosted Atlanta’s lead to 4-0 before Kendrick settled down and tossed six scoreless innings. He finished with eight strikeouts.
Kendrick has struggled early in games all season, posting a 9.00 ERA in the first inning this season. He has a 3.34 ERA in every other inning he has pitched.
"It's hard to explain," said Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg. "He's worked on it and worked on doing up and down [before the game] simulating like it's longer into the game. He just seems to fall behind and be too perfect. That results in some aggressive swings when he's behind in the count. After that, he seems to figure it out."
The Phillies scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning, but struggled to make anything happen after cutting the deficit.
Busy Saturday: The Phillies and Braves will play a doubleheader on Saturday with Roberto Hernandez scheduled to face Ervin Santana in the first game and Sean O'Sullivan opposing David Hale in the nightcap.
Roster Moves: The Phillies placed Carlos Ruiz on the seven-day disabled list with concussion like symptoms and called up Koyie Hill from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take his spot on the roster. Ruiz was hit in the head with a pitch in the 11th inning in Thursday's contest against the Marlins.
Sizemore and Marquis Debut: Grady Sizemore finished 1-for-4 and scored a run while Jason Marquis tossed six innings, striking out six and surrendering one run on three hits for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday night.
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