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PHILADELPHIA - A pair of victories made a long day for the Braves pretty enjoyable. Ryan Doumit homered and Tommy La Stella had two doubles and drove in two runs to lead the Atlanta Braves to a doubleheader sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with a 5-1 victory in the nightcap Saturday. La Stella hit a three-run triple in Atlantas 10-3 win in the opener. Chris Johnson had three hits with an RBI and Justin Upton had two hits and drove in a run for the Braves, who have won five of six. Atlanta finished with 13 hits in the nightcap and had a combined 15 runs and 20 hits on the day. "Its a long day, definitely a long day and its not something you look forward to, playing two in one day," Johnson said. "But to come out with two wins, you cant complain at all." Cameron Rupp had two hits with a double for the slumping Phillies, who have lost seven of nine. Philadelphia totalled four runs in the two games and now have scored three runs or less 41 times, dropping to 7-34 in those contests. The Phillies also fell to 18-26 at hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park, where they entered Saturday batting .229 as a team. "We had tough going on the offensive side and couldnt get anything going," Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Its disappointing. We came in with some momentum, but the last three games it was lack of offence and not many good plays on defence. We have to do things differently, we have to score more runs and put the pitching and defence together." Atlanta right-hander David Hale (3-2) made his first start since being moved to the bullpen on April 30 and allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk in five innings. Anthony Varvaro, Jordan Walden and Gus Schlosser combined to pitch four scoreless innings of relief. The four pitchers limited Philadelphia to six hits. "David Hale gave us everything he had," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He gave us what we wanted and gave us an opportunity." The Phillies called up Sean OSullivan (0-1) from Triple-A Lehigh Valley for a spot start and the right-hander lasted 5 2-3 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits with three strikeouts. OSullivan, who has had stints with the Angels, Royals and Padres, made his 38th big league career start. "I wouldve liked to have gone deeper in the game, but I thought I came right after them," OSullivan said. "I tried to eat as many innings as I could." Uptons RBI single in the first staked Atlanta to a 1-0 lead. The Phillies tied it in the third on Jimmy Rollins sacrifice fly before the Braves used a three-run sixth to take the lead for good. OSullivan retired the first two batters before three straight singles, the last, a run-scoring base hit to right field by Johnson, ended his night. Left-hander Mario Hollands relieved OSullivan and surrendered a two-run double to La Stella that gave the Braves a three-run lead. The Phillies got a chance in the sixth when a leadoff single by Marlon Byrd and an error by second baseman La Stella on Ryan Howards grounder put runners on first and second with no outs against Varvaro. However, unlike in the opener when two straight Howard errors in the fourth inning led to a pair of pivotal, game-tying runs, Philadelphia couldnt take advantage of Atlantas miscue. John Mayberry Jr. popped out and Cody Asche and Cesar Hernandez flew out to left. In the opener, Ervin Santana (6-5) snapped a four-game winless streak, allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk in 6 2-3 innings. Santana had lost his last three starts with a 5.89 ERA in those outings. But he was strong after the first two innings, retiring nine straight during one stretch and surrendering just three hits after the second inning. "It was a great effort," Gonzalez said. "We were looking for that kind of outing to be able to save the bullpen." Said Santana, "In the first inning, a couple pitches were up. After that, I just made a good adjustment and kept the ball down for the most part." Howard made two costly errors in the fourth inning, resulting in two unearned runs that allowed the Braves to tie the game at 2. Freddie Freemans hard-hit grounder went through Howards legs and the error put runners on second and third. "It was a possible double-play ball and we wouldve been out of the inning," Sandberg said. "It changed the whole game." The next batter, Upton, hit a medium grounder to first but reached safely when Howard bobbled and then lost control of the ball. Andrelton Simmons scored on that error and Freeman, who went to third on the play, then scored on Jason Heywards groundout to first. Fans gave a sarcastic cheer when Howard made the putout. "You make an error and give teams extra opportunities, and sometimes theyll make you pay for it," Gonzalez said. "We only got two runs out of those errors, but it got us back in the game. You have to take advantage of those. If you give opportunities to good baseball teams, theyre going to get you." Atlanta then went ahead in the sixth on Uptons two-run double off the wall in left. Roberto Hernandez (3-7) didnt allow a hit through 3 1-3 innings and ended up giving up just three hits in seven innings with two strikeouts and three walks. Two of the four runs he allowed were unearned. NOTES: Evan Gattis was out of the lineup for both games on Saturday. The Braves catcher left due to back spasms after striking out swing in the first inning of Fridays game. Christian Bethancourt was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game. Bethancourt, who arrived at the ballpark an hour and 15 minutes before the game, hit an infield single in the sixth for his first major-league hit. To make room for Bethancourt, the Braves sent right-hander Juan Jaime to Triple-A. ... Philadelphia Flyers goalie Steve Mason, in town for the NHL draft at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday and Saturday, was in attendance for the opener on Saturday. ... The teams will conclude their four-game series at 1:35 Sunday afternoon with Atlanta RHP Aaron Harang (6-6, 3.78) facing Philadelphia RHP David Buchanan (4-3, 4.79). Matt Murray Penguins Jersey . Trailing 5-4 in the third set, the 12th-ranked Isner fought off two match points and evened it at 5-5 with consecutive aces. The former University of Georgia star had his only service break of the match to go up 6-5 before firing the last four of his 30 aces to close out Ginepri, an Atlanta resident ranked 281st. Joe Mullen Jersey . Less than 24 hours later, in the same arena, he tried to recreate the magic of his all-time favourite player. Hilliard scored a career-high 26 points and No. http://www.penguinsauthenticofficial.com/patric-hornqvist-jersey/ . Goldeyes third baseman Ryan Pineda drove in three runs and the pitching staff didnt allow an earned run, as Winnipeg downed Kansas City 6-3 in American Association exhibition action at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas. Matt Murray Jersey . - The first sign that Kansas Speedway was going to be a heartbreaker for Hendrick Motorsports should have come during qualifying when Jimmie Johnson inexplicably spun and earned one of his worst starting spots since 2005. Jaromir Jagr Penguins Jersey . Mark Teahen scored the go-ahead run in the home seventh on an error by Scott Sizemore, who had knotted the game with a solo homer in the previous half- inning. Paul Konerko then hit an RBI single which proved to be the winning run.WASHINGTON -- Mathematicians will say the Washington Nationals cant clinch the NL East until next week. Practicality says they essentially wrapped it up Tuesday night when they sent nine hitters to the plate against Ervin Santana in the first inning of another win over the Atlanta Braves. The Nationals beat their division nemesis for the second time in two nights, winning 6-4 to push their lead to nine games with 19 to play. Atlanta had been a thorn in Washingtons plans for about a year and a half, but the Nationals have put the kibosh on that trend by winning five of the last seven meetings. "It feels like were just that much closer," first baseman Adam LaRoche said. "Not to take anything for granted until this thing is sewn up, but these are big. This time of year, playing the team chasing you, to be able to win a couple." LaRoche kept up his torrid stretch with two hits and two RBIs, and Jordan Zimmermann (11-5) allowed four runs (two earned) with seven strikeouts and no walks in six innings. Zimmermann hasnt lost a decision since July 11 and is 5-0 -- and the Nationals are 8-0 -- in his last eight starts. LaRoche is 9-for-19 with four home runs and 12 RBIs in his last six games, a run that started when he overcame back and elbow injuries and a stomach virus to punch in five RBIs as a late sub against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He singled in a run off Santana (14-8) in the Nationals four-run first inning and added another RBI single in the second. Both were hitting works of art: He held back just enough to get the end of the bat on a high changeup and poke a soft line drive up the middle, and lifted a low two-strike changeup into a line-drive hit to right. Yet LaRoche says he isnt really in his best groove. "You know, it feels good; it doesnt feel great," he said. "I dont know how to explain that, other than just from experience. I know when it feels really good, but again, it feels good. I feel like Im slowing things down, going a little deeper in counts and getting some pitches to hit." Santana settled down somewhatt after his long first inning and stuck around through five.dddddddddddd He gave up five runs, eight hits and four walks to fall to 7-2 since the All-Star break for the Braves, who remain in a crowded race for a wild card berth. "You cant fully give up. We still have a chance," Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman said. "Once were fully eliminated from the division race, then well worry about the wild card." DREW LOOKS LIKE THE GUY After struggling reliever Rafael Soriano lost the closers job on Friday, Washington manager Matt Williams initially indicated he would go to a closer-by-committee. Sure doesnt look that way. Drew Storen pitched the ninth for his third save in three days. Williams wouldnt declare outright that Storen is the new closer, and he has an excuse to stay mum for at least one more day: Even if Storen has the job, he almost certainly wouldnt pitch in four straight games. GONZALEZ ON KERSHAW Gonzalez offered a random thought on Clayton Kershaw, wondering if the Dodgers lefty has become too dominant for the usual set of stats: "I think you start counting how many hard foul balls he gives up instead of counting ERA. Six hard hit balls in foul territory." TRAINERS ROOM Braves: C Evan Gattis (strep throat) remained at the teams hotel for the second day in a row. Gonzalez said Gattis could return Friday for the opener of a three-game series in Texas. ... 2B Tommy La Stella was scratched from the starting lineup with a migraine, but he appeared as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. Nationals: SS Ian Desmonds back tightened up before the game, and he left after five innings. He said he has had a similar problem two or three times this year, but he should be able to play Wednesday. ... 3B Ryan Zimmerman took on-field batting practice for the first time since injuring his right hamstring on July 22. UP NEXT Atlantas Aaron Harang (10-10, 3.87 ERA) faces Washingtons Stephen Strasburg (11-10, 3.43) on Wednesday as the Nationals go for the sweep in the three-game series. ' ' '