Atlanta Braves second baseman Dan Uggla entered Sunday's game against the first-place Philadelphia Phillies with a .196 batting average, and mired in a 2-for-34 slump. Hardly what the Braves expected when they signed Uggla to a five-year, $62 million contract last winter.
Phillies Vs. Braves: Dan Uggla Busts Big Slump With Big Fly
Getty Images
Sunday, though, Uggla scored all three runs in the Braves’ 3-2 victory, the last of them coming on a tie-breaking solo home run in the eighth inning against Roy Halladay.
With Halladay starting for the Phillies and Tim Hudson for the Braves, runs figured to be scarce and they were, in MLB's official Civil Rights Game that saw both clubs sporting 1970s-era uniforms.
The Braves were first on the board, thanks to some broken-bat singles and a hit that ricocheted off Halladay. But with two outs in the sixth and a man on, John Mayberry drove a Hudson fastball into the first row of the left-field stands to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the same inning, Uggla led off with a walk, moved to third on Eric Hinske's single, and tied the game on Freddie Freeman's sacrifice fly.
Hudson was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the seventh, but to no avail. The score was still 2-2 when Uggla led off the eighth, and Halladay was still pitching. With the count 3-and-2 and Halladay not wanting to walk Uggla again -- Halladay hates walks, of course -- he threw a fastball over the plate and Uggla drove it well over the fence in left field.
That made the score 3-2, plenty for the Braves' bullpen. Jonny Venters had already pitched a perfect eighth, and Craig Kimbrel worked around pinch-hitter Ben Francisco's leadoff walk and a wild pitch to earn his 10th save.
Meanwhile, Halladay pitched his second straight complete game, and lost his second straight complete game.
For more about the Braves and Phillies, please visit Talking Chop and The Good Phight.
See More:
