Philadelphia Phillies' Jerad Eickhoff shuts down Atlanta Braves

PHILADELPHIA -- Manager Pete Mackanin said Saturday he thought his Philadelphia Phillies team looked a little down after dropping two straight games to the Atlanta Braves.

Nothing like a 13-hit performances to lift the spirits.

The Phillies got some much needed offense and avoided a sweep to the last-place Braves with a 5-0 win Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

This win, the Phillies hope, will help them carry some momentum into a tough stretch of games over the next 10 days.

Jerad Eickhoff, who had given up at least three runs in each of his last five starts, was stellar Sunday afternoon. Eickhoff improved his record to 2-6 and dropped his ERA to 3.86 by throwing seven shutout innings. He struck out three and walked one while giving up five hits, which tied a season low.

"That's the guy we're used to seeing," Mackanin said. "He did a great job in there. He was locating his fastball. He was really efficient early in the game. He threw a lot of pitches the last two innings but I liked the command of his fastball."

"I think the biggest thing was the fastball command," Eickhoff said. "I had plans to do other things early on. But my command was so well that I stuck with my fastball."

Philadelphia's bats, which went down so quietly in Saturday's 2-0 loss, came out screaming Sunday afternoon. The 13 hits they recorded tied a season high.

After Eickhoff retired the Braves in order to start the game, Odubel Herrera led off the Phillies' half with a double. He would get stranded, however, after a few loud outs.

But Cameron Rupp led off the second inning with a bang, pounding a 1-0 fastball from Braves starter Casey Kelly, who made his first start of 2016, over the right-field wall for a 1-0 Phillies lead.

"The home run, it was up and out over the plate," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "(When the ball is) up, all a hitter has to do is hit it. He's already done the work for him."

Tyler Goeddel tripled two batters later and would score on a Peter Bourjos single to put the Phillies ahead 2-0.

Eickhoff helped his own cause with an RBI groundout in the fourth, scoring Freddy Galvis, who had tripled to start the inning.

Kelly lasted five innings. He allowed seven hits and three runs with a walk, a strikeout, a wild pitch and two hit batsmen also on his ledger.

"I didn't have my best stuff today," Kelly said. "I wish I could have gone out there and done a little better for the guys. They're playing a (heck) of a defense behind me and coming off the last few games they've been playing really well. They called me up to help them win games and I just didn't get it done today."

Maikel Franco gave the Phillies some breathing room in the sixth inning, blooping a two-run single off Alexi Ogando to put the Phillies up 5-0.

The Phillies evened their record against Atlanta, which has the worst record in the National League, at 3-3. They travel to Detroit to start a three-game set with the Tigers Monday night before traveling to Chicago to take on the NL-leading Cubs. The Washington Nationals await the Phillies when they return home.

"We needed to win that game today," Mackanin said. "We're going to face some tough teams. Detroit we haven't seen. Nor the Cubs. We know they're both pretty good offensive minded teams. It's nice to end the homestand with a win and have some confidence headed into the road trip."

NOTES: To make room for Sunday's starter, RHP Casey Kelly, Atlanta optioned Joel De La Cruz to Triple-A Gwinnett. Kelly made his first start of the season. ... Phillies 1B Ryan Howard, who is platooning with right-handed hitting Tommy Joseph, was not in the starting lineup against a righty on Sunday. Howard, mired in a slump, is hitting just .091 in the month of May. ... Phillies OF Cody Asche (right oblique strain) had his rehab assignment transferred to Double-A Reading. Asche has been out since spring training. ... Atlanta finished a 10-game road trip and starts a 10-game homestand Tuesday against Milwaukee. ... The Phillies start a rough stretch Monday in Detroit before heading to Chicago to face the Cubs before returning home to play the Washington Nationals.