Newcomer Luke Williams hits walk-off HR to lift Phillies over Braves
Luke Williams hit a walk-off two-run home run against Will Smith with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally the host Philadelphia Phillies past the Atlanta Braves 2-1 on Wednesday.
Playing in just his second career game, Williams finished with two hits, including his first career homer.
The Braves retired 15 straight Phillies before Andrew McCutchen drew a one-out walk off Smith. Pinch hitter Brad Miller popped out and Williams responded with the game-winning homer.
Williams also hit a double earlier in the game. J.T. Realmuto extended his hitting streak to eight in a row with a single.
Phillies starter Zach Eflin allowed eight hits and one run in six solid innings. Eflin struck out seven and walked two. Ranger Suarez (2-0) earned the win with three scoreless innings in relief.
William Contreras had three hits, including an RBI single, and Ozzie Albies also added three hits for the Braves.
Braves starter Tucker Davidson tossed six shutout innings and gave up four hits while striking out four and walking one in just his fourth career start.
Smith (1-5) had converted his first 11 saves before this outing.
The Braves loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning. But Eflin induced a groundout by Ronald Acuna Jr. to eventually end the threat.
Rhys Hoksins reached second on a throwing error by Austin Riley with two outs in the third. McCutchen then grounded out to Riley to close the inning.
The Braves had runners on first and second with two outs in the sixth and Contreras came through with his third straight hit, an RBI single to center for a 1-0 lead. They managed four hits in the inning.
Williams began the seventh by striking out swinging against Tyler Matzek. Ronald Torreyes grounded out to shortstop and Odubel Herrera struck out on a nasty slider in the dirt.
The Braves went down in order in the seventh and eighth against Suarez.
In the bottom of the eighth, Jean Segura flied out to right, Realmuto grounded out sharply to Freddie Freeman at first and Bryce Harper struck out for the third time.
–Field Level Media
