Phillies Hang On To Beat Braves 5-4 In First Game Of Day-Night Doubleheader
May 29, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher Rafael March‡n (13) scores past the tag attempt of Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy (12) during the fifth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
A great start to a full day of baseball.
After rain caused game two of the series to be postponed, the Phillies picked up a 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves in the first game of their day-night doubleheader.
It was a back-and-forth contest between these two rivals, with the Phillies leading for a majority of the game, blowing the lead, and retaking it late to hang on to the win. Cristopher Sanchez was alright in the win, tossing 5.2 innings, allowing two runs but striking out five. Nick Castellanos recorded four hits, all of them being singles, while Rafael Marchan and Kyle Schwarber both homered.
While the Braves didn’t get on the board until later in the ballgame, they kicked off the afternoon with an early hit thanks to Ozzie Albies, who smacked a line drive single to left. However, Sanchez got some help from the Braves, as Austin Riley flew out to center, and Marcell Ozuna was called out on batter interference during an Albies steal attempt. Sanchez then blew a changeup past Matt Olson to pick up a strikeout to end the inning.
The Phillies didn’t do much in their first at-bats as they went down in order in the bottom of the first. Sanchez ran into trouble in the top of the second as he fell behind in multiple counts, walking both Sean Murphy and Stuart Fairchild to put two runners on with one out. However, he rallied back, picking up back-to-back strikeouts over Michael Harris II and Luke Williams.
Once again, the Phillies went down in order in the second, and in the top of the third, Sanchez worked around a single from Ozuna to keep the game scoreless. In the bottom of the third, Marchan changed that.
After Brandon Marsh worked a walk, Marchan smacked a liner down into the right field corner, just clearing the wall for a two-run home run, his first homer of the year.
Bryson Stott followed that up with a single off Braves pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver, and Trea Turner just missed a home run, flying out to left. After the fly-out, Smith-Shawver appeared injured and eventually came out of the game. Scott Blewett then came on in relief, but Stott was caught stealing to end the inning.
In the fourth, Marchan returned the favor, as after a single from Fairchild, Marchan threw him out at second base to end the inning. On the slide into second, Fairchild injured his pinky, and Ronald Acuña Jr. replaced him.
Alec Bohm and Castellanos hit back-to-back singles to put two runners on for Max Kepler. However, Harris made a remarkable play in center field, robbing Kepler of an extra-base hit. Edmundo Sosa then flew out to end the inning.
Using just six pitches, Sanchez made his way through the top of the fifth, and in the bottom half of the inning, the Phillies added another run. After a strikeout from Marsh, Marchan walked, and back-to-back singles from Stott and Turner allowed Marchan to trot home to make it 3-0 Phillies. One run was all Philadelphia scored as Schwarber struck out and Bohm grounded out to end the inning.
However, in the top of the sixth, the Braves finally scored some runs. Singles from Riley, Olson, and Murphy brought in the first run of the game for Atlanta. After a flyout from Eli White for the second out of the inning and Acuna coming up to the plate, Rob Thomson pulled Sanchez after 5.2 innings.
Orion Kerkering came on in relief for Sanchez, but he left a sinker a little too much over the plate, and Acuna smacked a single to right for another run to make it 3-2 Phillies. Kerkering then struck out Harris, looking to end the inning, keeping the damage at only two runs.
Castellanos led off the bottom half of the sixth with his third hit of the afternoon, a single back up the middle. Sosa was hit by a pitch, putting two runners on, but strikeouts to Kepler and Marsh ended any chance at runs in that inning.
Kerkering stayed out for the top of the seventh, and despite allowing a single to Riley, kept it a one-run game. In the bottom half of the inning, after a quick ground out from Stott, the Braves brought in right-hander Pierce Johnson. While the matchup worked, getting Turner to fly out to center, Schwarber made them pay, smoking a 438-foot home run to the second deck in right field, doubling the Phillies’ lead to two.
Bohm then smoked a warning track flyout to right to end the inning. In the top of the eighth, the Braves tied the game up.
With Matt Strahm on the mound, Olson popped out to third to kick off the inning, but Murphy dug in next and smoked a solo home run to left to make it a one-run game. After White popped out to first, Acuna came up for his second at-bat of the game and smoked a double into the left-center field gap. With the tying run in scoring position, Harris poked a bloop double to right to score Acuna and tie the game at four.
In the bottom of the eighth, Castellanos once again led the inning off with a single. Kepler then walked to put two runners on, and Johan Rojas came in to run for Castellanos. Sosa then bunted both runners over to second and third, but a walk to Marsh loaded the bases for Marchan.
After working the count to 2-2, Daysbel Hernández‘s slider went a little too far in and hit Marchan on the foot, bringing in a run to make it 5-4 Phillies. However, Stott struck out and Turner flew out to right to keep it a one-run game.
Jordan Romano came on in the ninth, looking for his eighth save of the year. He walked Albies on four pitches to start the inning, but Marchan was able to throw him out on a steal attempt for the first out.
One pitch later, he struck out Riley, but Ozuna worked a walk, Olson singled to right, and Murphy also walked to load the bases for White. Romano got ahead early and, with the count at 1-2, got a called third strike on a slider to end the game, with the Phillies winning 5-4.
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
