Red Sox Stun Braves 9-8 on Brandon Phillips Home Run
ATLANTA – The Red Sox keep findings new ways to win, and their newest player helped them pull off one of the most dramatic victories of the 2018 season.
Brandon Phillips’ two-out, ninth inning, two-run home run propelled the Sox to a 9-8 victory over Atlanta on Wednesday, capping off a series sweep of the first-place Braves.
The Sox are now 97-44 on the year.
The 37-year-old Phillips, who was signed over the summer and spent time in the minors between Single-A Lowell and Triple-A Pawtucket, was added to the 40-man roster on Tuesday.
The Braves had just taken an 8-7 lead on a Freddie Freeman home run off Brandon Workman in the bottom of the eighth.
The Red Sox erased a six-run deficit in the top of the eighth. Ian Kinsler’s pinch-hit, two-RBI single tied the game. Blake Swihart started the rally with a two-RBI double while Steve Pearce and Andrew Benintendi added run-scoring singles.
The six-run comeback is the largest the Red Sox have had in a victory in 2018.
The Braves appeared to put the game away in the fifth inning by lighting up Drew Pomeranz for five runs. The lefty recorded only one out, allowed three hits, and walked two.
Pomeranz came on in relief of Hector Velazquez, who got the start and allowed two runs in four innings.
The Red Sox are off Thursday and return to Fenway Park on Friday to open a series with the Astros. David Price (14-6, 3.60 ERA) will take the ball after missing his start earlier in the week with a left wrist contusion. Houston will counter with right-hander Gerrit Cole (13-5, 2.86 ERA).
