Atlanta, GA – Joe Blanton powered through the Braves lineup for his first shutout in nearly five years, and the Phillies breezed to a 4-0 win on Thursday afternoon to escape Atlanta with a series victory.
The teams enjoyed little rest after a wild Wednesday night, when the Braves got a walk-off homer in the 11th inning from Chipper Jones for a 15-13 win.
That game took four hours, but Blanton (3-3) made sure this one went much quicker with his best outing in a Phillies uniform.
The 31-year-old righty struck out six, gave up just three hits -- all singles -- and threw 67 of his 88 pitches for strikes without issuing a walk, pushing the game along to a two-hour finish.
"Honestly, I just tried to use last night's game to my advantage a little bit," he said. "Hopefully maybe they're coming out a touch lethargic. I don't know if that was the case or not. I had some great plays behind me."
It was Blanton's first shutout since June 2, 2007, with Oakland and his first complete game since July 3 of the same year. It was the seventh complete game and third shutout of his career.
The Phillies had nine hits, including a solo homer from Laynce Nix and a two- run blast from Shane Victorino, to win two of three in the series.
Braves starter Randall Delgado (2-3) went eight innings, giving up two runs on six hits, but lost his third straight start. He struck out five.
Braves catcher David Ross, who had one of Atlanta's three hits, said Blanton kept the Braves off-balance.
"He threw a lot of strikes. We hit a lot of balls hard right at guys," said Ross. "It's just one of those games."
Meanwhile, Philadelphia got the only run it needed in the first inning.
Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a single, went to third on Juan Pierre's bunt hit and Victorino's fly out and scored on Hunter Pence's sac fly.
Freddie Freeman's single in the first and Ross' hit in the fifth counted for the only Braves base runners in the first eight innings.
Meanwhile, Nix knocked a 2-1 breaking pitch over the wall in right-center field in the seventh inning for his second homer of the season and Victorino hit his fifth off Livan Hernandez in the ninth for two insurance runs.
Blanton gave up a one-out single to Michael Bourn in the ninth, but he was doubled up on Martin Prado's line drive to second baseman Freddy Galvis to end the game.
Game Notes
The Phillies, who have won three of their last four, will continue a six-game road trip with the opener of a weekend series in Washington on Friday...The Braves went 3-4 on a seven-game homestand and will start a nine-game road trip Friday in Colorado.
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