ATLANTA _ The Braves probably got more than they could have expected from spot starter Joel De La Cruz. They also were getting the norm from their majors-worst offense until a rain delay and Jeff Francoeur's homer changed things.
Francoeur's go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning lifted the Braves to a 2-1 victory over the Phillies on Sunday at Turner Field. The Braves (37-68) split the four-game series with Phillies (48-59).
Francoeur hit his big home run against reliever Andrew Bailey after the Braves could do little against Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff. He held them to two hits with no walks over five innings but departed following a 24-minute rain delay in the middle of the sixth.
Nick Markakis singled against Bailey with one out in the seventh. Francoeur fell behind 0-2 before sending Bailey's fastball to the opposite field for his seventh home run of the season and first at home.
Outfielder Jimmy Paredes got the Phillies within 2-1 on a solo home run against Chris Withrow to lead off eighth inning. Withrow retired the next three batters and closer Jim Johnson recorded his fourth consecutive save.
De La Cruz made the third start of his rookie season and held the Phillies scoreless with three hits over 4 1/3 innings. He took the rotation spot vacated when the Braves traded Lucas Harrell to the Rangers on Wednesday.
De La Cruz last started on July 4 at Philadelphia, when he allowed four earned runs over six innings. He's made seven relief appearances since then, including a four-pitch outing against the Phillies during Thursday's series-opener.
Eickhoff, who was 2-1 with a 1.73 ERA in four previous starts against the Braves, continued to confound them. Jace Peterson and Ender Inciarte were the only Braves to reach base against him over five innings and he presumably would have continued if not for the rain delay because he'd only thrown 51 pitches.
After the delay, the Braves immediately created a scoring chance against reliever David Hernandez. Erick Aybar led off with a single and went to second on Daniel Castro's sacrifice before Peterson walked.
But catcher Carlos Ruiz threw out Aybar trying to steal third base with Chase d'Arnaud at bat. D'Arnaud flied out to center field to end the inning.
Phillies left fielder Cody Asche took away two early chances for extra-base hits against Eickhoff. He chased down Freddie Freeman's line drive at the warning track to end the first inning and did the same on Francoeur's liner with one out in the second.
De La Cruz kept pace with Eickhoff. He stranded Odubel Herrera in the first inning after a one-out single. Aaron Altherr walked to lead of the first inning and went to second base on De La Cruz's throwing error on a pick-off attempt, but second baseman Peterson threw Altherr trying to take third on the play.
De La Cruz finally slowed in the fifth inning. He issued a one-out walk to Asche and Freddy Galvis followed with a single. That prompted interim manager Brian Snitker to call on reliever Ian Krol, who got Eickhoff to ground out into a double play on the first pitch.
