MILWAUKEE – Brandon Phillips returned to the Braves’ lineup as expected Saturday, but manager Brian Snitker decided to keep Adonis Garcia in the second spot at least for Phillips’ first game back from a groin strain.
The move looked astute after Garcia had another two-hit game Saturday and the top five in the Braves’ order were a blistering 13-for-24 with nine runs and six RBIs in an 11-3 win against the Brewers, including three homers and five RBIs from cleanup hitter Matt Kemp.
Phillips hit sixth and went 1-for-4 before coming out after the top of the seventh inning. Snitker said Phillips got through the game OK but wouldn’t play in the series finale Sunday since it’s a day game — he didn’t want to push the veteran second baseman too much after coming back from injury.
“He went through a lot today, as far as the pregame (stretching and warmup session) and playing the game, and that just felt like with what that game was, that was enough for one day,” Snitker said. “He got tested right away. Funny how baseball works — the ball will find you, the game will test you.”
Phillips extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a first-inning single off the right-field wall but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double after the ball caromed quickly back to the right fielder. Phillips had an awkward slide at second base but stayed in the game.
Snitker left it up to the 35-year-old player to “manage” the injury situation, which is why Phillips let up a little rather than sprinting to first base on a couple of routine outs later in the game.
“You just kind of trust them to manage things like that and they kind of know when they’ve got to get after it and when they don’t,” Snitker said. “But it was good just to get him out there. Rifles one off the right-field wall first at-bat and just (barely) missed a couple others in his at-bats. I’m sure he’ll be a little sore tomorrow and we’ll just go from there.”
Phillips was among the Braves’ hottest hitters and moved up from sixth to second in the lineup for two games before missing the past two starts with a strained groin. Snitker decided to bat Phillips sixth in his first game back.
“Couple of things,” Snitker said of his reasoning. “I didn’t want him maybe to get sore and come out, then we have three left-handers in a row (if Jace Peterson had to replace Phillips mid-game). And, just getting (Phillips) back in there, if he doesn’t get up (to bat) the extra time, I think that’ll be OK (in his first game back).”
Garcia was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI single and a walk in Friday's wild 10-8 Braves win.
Snitker added that he was confident Phillips was ready to play after the trainers and conditioning coach put him through a rigorous round of drills Saturday afternoon to test the strength in the area of his injury. “They put him through the paces today and he looked great. Running around — he did everything,” Snitker said.
Phillips singled in the first inning Wednesday at New York, injured his groin on a stolen-base attempt minutes later, and left the game after struggling to play defense in the bottom of the inning.
Peterson replaced Phillips in the second inning Wednesday and had two hits that game to start a streak of three consecutive two-hit games for the utility man, who was 6-for-13 with two doubles while filling in for Phillips during the rest of the game Wednesday and the next two.
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