ATLANTA - Ryan Flaherty spent spring training with the Phillies on a minor-league contract. He hit .351 with three doubles, a homer and eight RBIs. He played in the infield and the outfield. Flaherty did enough to win a spot on the Phillies' opening day roster, but was a victim of a numbers crunch so the team granted him his release in the final week of camp.
In need of some help at third base after Johan Camargo went down with an oblique injury, the Braves signed Flaherty to a big-league deal and installed him as their opening day third baseman.
All Flaherty has done since joining the Braves is hit. He entered Wednesday hitting .354, fifth best in the majors and .130 points better than his career average. He's been especially tough on the Phillies. He swatted a three-run home run Wednesday night and the Phillies never recovered in a 7-3 loss at SunTrust Park. Flaherty also had an RBI single in the game.
In six games against the Phillies this season, Flaherty has 11 hits, including three doubles and a homer. Despite Flaherty's strong start, the Braves appear to be making other plans at third base. Camargo came off the disabled list on Wednesday and the team also signed veteran Jose Bautista with the intention of looking at him at third base when he's ready to go.
Flaherty's three-run home run came against Vince Velasquez in the fifth inning.
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Velasquez had helped himself with an RBI single in the top of the fifth to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. But the right-hander let the lead get away quickly when he allowed a leadoff walk, a single and Flaherty's three-run homer all with no outs in the bottom of the inning.
Flaherty hit a first-pitch fastball that registered 94 mph.
Those were the only runs that Velasquez allowed in six innings of work. He struck out seven and walked one. That walk became a run.
Braves starter Brandon McCarthy held the Phillies to one run over 5 1/3 innings.
The Phillies ended up losing two out of three in the series and are 2-4 against the Braves on the season. The Phils did not do a lot of scoring in this series. They lost the opener, 2-1. They won the second game, 5-1, but scored four of their runs in the 10th inning. They scored just three runs in the finale.
They probably would have had one more run if it weren't for Ender Inciarte. The Braves' defensive whiz centerfielder rose above the wall in left-center to steal a home run away from Scott Kingery in the first inning. Inciarte, like Flaherty, was once Phillies property, a former Rule 5 pick that the club chose not to keep around.
