ATLANTA (AP) – Sean Murphy homered and drove in four runs in his return from a rib injury, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-5 on Tuesday night.
Austin Riley hit two doubles for Atlanta, including a tiebreaking shot to the wall in right-center in the seventh inning. Jarred Kelenic walked three times and scored two runs.
Riley’s second double of the night drove in Marcell Ozuna, who walked and moved to second on a wild pitch by Orion Kerkering (1-1).
Kyle Schwarber homered and drove in three runs for Philadelphia.
Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler and Braves left-hander Chris Sale each gave up five runs in a matchup of the top two finishers in last season’s NL Cy Young Award voting.
Daysbel Hernández (1-0), Atlanta’s fourth pitcher, tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Raisel Iglesias pitched around a two-out walk to Bryce Harper in the ninth for his first save.
Sale allowed nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. Sale won the 2024 NL Cy Young Award, receiving 26 first-place votes. Wheeler received four first-place votes and was second in the voting.
Edmundo Sosa, a veteran infielder making his first career start in the outfield, reached over the wall in left field to rob Ozuna of a homer in the first.
Riley scored in the second after his fly ball fell in front of Phillies center fielder Johan Rojas, who appeared to think Sosa was going to catch the ball. Riley was credited with a double.
Wheeler had pitched at least six innings while allowing no more than two runs in 13 consecutive regular-season starts before surrendering five runs in 5 1/3 innings against Atlanta.
Phillies right-hander Taijuan Walker (1-0, 0.00) will make his second start after throwing six scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over Colorado on Thursday. The Braves will counter with right-hander Grant Holmes (0-1, 7.20 ERA).
