Phillies’ Pitching Implodes In 9-2 Loss To Braves

ATLANTA (AP) — Josh Donaldson and Austin Riley hit three-run homers off Nick Pivetta and the Atlanta Braves solidified their NL East lead by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 9-2 on Wednesday night.

Donaldson’s homer gave Atlanta a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Following Riley’s blast, Matt Joyce added a pinch-hit, two-run homer off Juan Nicasio in Atlanta’s six-run sixth.

Atlanta leads second-place Philadelphia by 5 ½ games after splitting the first two games of the series.

Bryce Harper hit a line-drive homer to left field in the sixth. It was his 200th career homer and 1,000th career hit. According to the Phillies, it marked the first time in major league history a player reached milestones in…