Philadelphia Phillies shut out Atlanta Braves for the second night in a row

The Atlanta Braves continue to struggle offensively, and for the second night in a row–and third game in four days–they were shutout by the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0.

Jason Heyward was the lone highlight of the offense, going 2-4 with a pair of doubles out of the leadoff spot. Normally that would give a team some opportunities to plate a run or two, but the only other Atlanta player with a hit was Andrelton Simmons (who was batting out of the two-hole) who went 1-4.

Freddie Freeman reached base twice on a pair of walks, but also struck out twice and the team went 0-6 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

As per the rest of the season, the Braves pitching staff had a much better time of it. Mike Minor went pitched into the eighth inning and allowed just three runs throughout the game. He struck out five batters and walked just two. Carlos Ruiz proved to be a bit too much for Minor though, as he homered on the night and went 2-3 with a pair of RBIs.

One thing that should be mentioned is that Justin Upton–one of the few competent hitters on the team at the moment–left the game after just one plate appearance with a “left triceps contusion” according to the Braves twitter account:

There’s not a whole lot more to say about this one. The Braves aren’t scoring runs to back up a solid pitching staff and as long as they keep doing that the Nationals are going to keep slowing moving away from them in the standings. Currently, Washington has a 7.5 game lead on the Braves for the division.

The Braves will try and salvage the series with Philadelphia tomorrow at 12:10.