ATLANTA _ It was the Fourth of July, after all, so the Braves stuck with that most American of rituals and scheduled a fireworks show after their game at SunTrust Park.
With the Phillies in town, though, there wasn't any need to wait.
Fireworks have been a nightly occurrence against Phillies pitchers this season. Home runs are on the rise across baseball, but no team in the National League gives up more of them _ 145 and counting entering play Thursday night.
Well, add five more to the tally, including the back-breaking shot by Ozzie Albies in the third inning and Dansby Swanson's three-run shot in the eighth that sent the Phillies on their way to a 12-6 pounding.
For the first time all season, the Phillies are in third place in the National League East, having slipped to a half-game behind the Washington Nationals. They are 6 { games behind the first-place Braves, whom they led by 3 { games on May 29.
Seven batters into the game, the Phillies seized a 4-0 lead on five singles against Braves All-Star sinkerballer Mike Soroka, but it took only 45 pitches for Zach Eflin to give it all away _ and then some.
Eflin gave up seven runs on seven hits and lasted only three innings. Less than a month ago, he was the Phillies' most consistent starting pitcher with a shot at making the All-Star team. In his last three starts, he has given up 15 earned runs in 14 innings for a 9.64 earned-run average, and he has a 5.14 ERA over his last eight starts.
If only Eflin were the Phillies' biggest problem.
Earlier this week, manager Gabe Kapler said the Phillies had unlocked a "specific adjustment" that they believed would limit the number of home runs hit against them. After Aaron Nola shut out the Braves on Tuesday night, the Phillies allowed seven homers in the last two games, including four by starting pitchers Nick Pivetta and Eflin.
Problem solved? Not quite.
"I'm well aware of where we rank in the National League in terms of home runs given up," pitching coach Chris Young said on Wednesday. "I think it's something as a group, as a staff, that a lot of people have spent a lot of time digging into."
More digging will be required, apparently.
Solo homers, such as the one that Swanson hit against Eflin in the first inning, usually don't hurt quite so much. But three-run shots are a killer, and as poorly as Eflin executed a fastball to Albies in the third inning, the Phillies' overall approach with a runner on second base and two outs was even worse.
Eflin appeared to pitch around Brian McCann, walking him on four pitches to get to Albies, a switch-hitter who is less dangerous from the left side. But Albies has power from both sides of the plate, including nine homers left-handed, and he jumped on an elevated fastball and launched it over the right-field fence to give the Braves a 7-4 lead.
"If we know home runs are happening for certain reasons (across the league), we need to limit walks," said Young, who was promoted from assistant pitching coach in November to replace Rick Kranitz, now the pitching coach of a Braves staff that has allowed only 108 homers. "We need to make sure we're doing the right things from a game-planning perspective."
So much for that.
Rookie reliever Edgar Garcia replaced Eflin and gave up back-to-back solo homers to Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson in the fourth inning to stretch the margin to 9-4. After the Phillies trimmed it back to 9-6 in the sixth inning, Swanson teed off for a three-run shot against just-recalled lefty Austin Davis.
Fireworks, indeed.
