Hudson, Braves knocked around by Phillies

Hudson, Braves knocked around by Phillies

Published Sep. 1, 2012 7:15 p.m. ET

ATLANTA (AP) -- Fredi Gonzalez isn't concerned about another September collapse.

The Braves manager is worried about his offense.

Atlanta turned in another feeble offensive performance, held scoreless over seven innings by Philadelphia's Cliff Lee in a 5-1 loss to the Phillies on Saturday.

"We're just not swinging the bats at all," said Gonzalez, whose team has scored only 10 runs in the past five games. "It's easy to say the pitchers are better than us, but enough of that."

Jimmy Rollins hit his 16th homer for the Phillies, who got off to a good September start after a strong August.

The wild card-leading Braves are heading in the opposite direction with three straight losses and only four wins in their past 14 games, rekindling memories of their historic meltdown last season.

Gonzalez hinted that he may shake up the lineup, pointing to the call-up of speedy Jose Constanza and Lyle Overbay from the minors and Friday's acquisition of Jeff Baker from Detroit.

"We've got to get something going offensively to compete," the manager said. "We're at a point now where our pitchers give up two or three runs, and it's a good chance they're going to lose. It's not fair to them."

Lee (4-7) came in with a record that was hardly indicative of the way he's pitched this season. The Phillies had been held to three runs or fewer in 14 of his 23 starts.

A little offensive support was all he needed.

"It looks like he enjoyed pitching," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He had a four- or five-run lead and he started feeling comfortable and feeling like he could pitch the way he wanted to. "

The Phillies jumped on Tim Hudson (13-5) right away, going ahead in the first and blowing the game open with two runs in the sixth. Lee was on cruise control the whole way.

"I felt like I was locating pretty good, mixing my off-speed pitches and staying out of the heart of the plate," Lee said. "When you're doing that it's hard to hit."

He left the game for precautionary reasons after his left hamstring cramped on a sweltering day. The temperature was 90 degrees at the first pitch, with stifling humidity.

One thing he's not doing is looking back on all the tough luck this season.

"What's done is done," Lee said. "We've been playing better, well-rounded baseball."

Hudson took his first loss since July 1, snapping a streak of seven straight wins. He gave up nine hits, walked three and was charged with all five Phillies runs.

"I just wasn't very good today," he said. "That's probably the worst stuff I've had all year. It was a battle all the way."

Rollins led off the game with a single. After Juan Pierre hit into a forceout and Chase Utley flied out, Ryan Howard and John Mayberry came through with two-out singles, the second of which brought home the first run.

Rollins led off the third with a homer off the right-field foul pole, making it 2-0, and Philadelphia extended its advantage with more clutch hitting in the fifth. With two outs, Pierre slapped a weak grounder in a perfect spot between third base and shortstop, then came all the way around to score on Utley's double to center.

The Phillies started the sixth with three straight singles off Hudson, loading the bases. Lee worked the count full, fouled off a 3-2 pitch, then took a pitch that was just off the inside corner to force in a run. That was it for Hudson, who glared at plate umpire Angel Hernandez as he trudged slowly toward the dugout.

Luis Avilan got Rollins on a popup, but pinch-hitter Ty Wigginton beat the relay throw to first when the Braves attempted to turn a double play, bringing home another run for a 5-0 lead.

Atlanta threatened twice against Lee, who got out of both jams by retiring Brian McCann. The left-hander struck out five and walked only one.

Chipper Jones and Freddie Freeman singled with two outs in the fourth, but McCann flied to center. In the sixth, again with two outs, Jason Heyward and Jones had back-to-back hits and Freeman walked to load the bases. McCann squandered another chance, popping out to Rollins in short left field, his head dropping as soon as the ball left his bat.

The Braves avoided a shutout on Martin Prado's ninth homer off B.J. Rosenberg in the eighth. That was of little consolation to a team that seemingly had a comfortable September lead in the wild-card race a year ago, only to be edged by St. Louis on the final day of the season.

Atlanta came into Saturday leading the Cardinals by three games for the first NL wild-card spot, with Pittsburgh only 3 games behind the Braves.

Notes: The Braves called up four players before the game to take advantage of the expanded roster. OF Constanza, 1B Overbay, RHP Peter Moylan and C J.C. Boscan came to Atlanta from Triple-A Gwinnett. Moylan, once a valuable member of the Braves' bullpen before a series of injuries, worked a scoreless eighth in his first appearance this season. ... Baker struck out swinging as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. ... The Phillies didn't call up any players from the minors with the expanded roster, but they did activate OF Nate Schierholtz from the disabled list.

ADVERTISEMENT
share