After dropping the series opener on Monday night 5-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves stuck it to their N.L. East foe 9-0 thanks to a complete game shutout from pitcher Shelby Miller. Miller allowed just three hits and walked one while fanning eight batters en route to his 99-pitch shutout.
The story at the start of the game was Phillies' starter Chad Billingsley making his return to the mound for the first time since April 15, 2013. Billingsley's return met the bat of Freddie Freeman in the bottom of the first, as Freeman took the righty's pitch over the right field wall for a two-run home run, scoring Andrelton Simmons to put the Braves up early.
In the bottom of the fourth, Billingsley ran into more trouble after a Cody Asche error on a potential double-play ball allowed Freeman to score. On the next at-bat, Kelly Johnson blasted a three-run home run to score A.J. Pierzynski and Jonny Gomes, increasing the Braves' lead to six.
Johnson singled to center in the sixth to record his 1,000th career hit, and would then be walked by Dustin McGowan with the bases loaded the next inning to score Simmons. McGowan's command worsened as his pitch count increased in his third of an inning of relief. The Phillies' relief pitcher walked four hitters and gave up three earned runs, including a Jace Peterson single to score Freeman, and a Cameron Maybin single to score Gomes. Atlanta took a 9-0 lead into the eighth inning.
Miller wrapped up his shutout two innings later, sending the Phillies down in order. The Braves took game two of a three-game set against the Phillies 9-0 on 12 hits.
In the final game of the series, Jerome Williams (2-1, 4.08 ERA) will square-off against Mike Foltynewicz (1-0, 3.60 ERA).