| SEASON | CAREER |
| W3 | 93 |
| L1 | 93 |
| G4 | 245 |
| IP24.2 | 1572.0 |
| BB6 | 362 |
| SO23 | 1313 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W6 | 18 |
| L6 | 10 |
| G18 | 48 |
| IP109.0 | 253.0 |
| BB37 | 87 |
| SO91 | 222 |
The Atlanta Braves ' inability to beat the Philadelphia Phillies contributed to their late collapse last year.
The Braves appear poised for a different ending to this campaign and look to extend their recent dominance over the Phillies on Monday night with help from right-hander Ben Sheets .
Atlanta failed to capture a second straight playoff berth in 2011 because of an 8-18 finish that included six losses to Philadelphia, including three to close out the season at Turner Field.
This time, the Braves (62-46) will face the Phillies while contending for one of the NL's two wild-card berths and trailing Washington by three games in the NL East. Atlanta also has won 10 of 12 after a 6-1 victory over Houston on Sunday.
Atlanta will try to add to that stretch by building on a six-game win streak against Philadelphia (49-59). The Braves earned the first three of those wins at Citizens Bank from July 6-8.
Sheets (3-1, 1.46 ERA) got Atlanta started on a three-game home sweep of the Phillies by allowing one run and six hits over six innings during a 6-1 victory July 27, his third in a row. A poor first inning kept him from building on that win streak Wednesday, and the right-hander took the loss in a 4-2 defeat to Miami.
Sheets gave up three of those four runs in the opening frame. He also allowed a season-high 11 hits but did have a season-best eight strikeouts over 6 2-3 innings.
It also marked the first time the right-hander, who is coming off a second Tommy John surgery, had gone past the sixth inning of a game and surpassed 100 pitches since July 19, 2010.
"I think for him, going out there in the seventh was a big plus," manager Fredi Gonzalez told the team's website. "I think sitting down for seven innings and going out and getting over the 100-pitch mark was a good step forward."
Sheets will try to bounce back with another strong start against Philadelphia, which has won four of six since its series in Atlanta near the end of last month.
Ryan Howard , batting .208 since being activated from the disabled list July 6, hit a walkoff single in a 5-4 victory over Arizona on Sunday. The Phillies slugger is 3 for 19 (.158) with 10 strikeouts in his five games against Atlanta this season.
"It's just been a timing issue," Howard said of his recent struggles. "I've been kind of in between, start too late, start too early. I've got to find the happy place."Vance Worley (6-6, 3.63) was probably in that place following a 3-2 win in Washington on Wednesday. The right-hander gave up two unearned runs, six hits and one walk over seven innings for his third victory in 11 starts.
"There's still season left and we've got to go out and play," Worley told the team's website. "Nothing really changes. The goal is still the same."
Worley did not get a decision in his only start against the Braves this season, a 4-3 loss July 8 in Philadelphia. He gave up three runs over six innings during that game, and is 1-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three career starts versus Atlanta.
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AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPS
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Michael Bourn | 3 | .667 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | 1.334 | .667 |
| Jose Constanza | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Matt Diaz | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Juan Francisco | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .000 |
| Freddie Freeman | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .750 | 1.250 | .500 |
| Tommy Hanson | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jason Heyward | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Eric Hinske | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Tim Hudson | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Chipper Jones | 3 | .667 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .667 | 1.667 | 1.000 |
| Brian McCann | 6 | .167 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .167 | .334 | .167 |
| Martin Prado | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 | .250 | .000 |
| Dan Uggla | 5 | .400 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .571 | 1.571 | 1.000 |
| Jack Wilson | 1 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 2.000 | 1.000 |
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Pete Orr | 9 | .333 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | 1.111 | .778 |
| Hunter Pence | 14 | .214 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .313 | .599 | .286 |
| Juan Pierre | 30 | .333 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | .355 | .722 | .367 |
| Placido Polanco | 25 | .400 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .423 | .863 | .440 |
| Jimmy Rollins | 22 | .273 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | .333 | .697 | .364 |
| Carlos Ruiz | 4 | .500 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .600 | 1.350 | .750 |
| Brian Schneider | 19 | .211 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .211 | .474 | .263 |
| Jim Thome | 12 | .167 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | .167 | .834 | .667 |
| Shane Victorino | 10 | .100 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .100 | .200 | .100 |
| Ty Wigginton | 36 | .333 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 3 | .429 | .985 | .556 |
 Atlanta Braves |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| August 01, 2012 | Jair Jurrjens | 15-Day DL | Strained right groin |
| July 31, 2012 | Tommy Hanson | 15-Day DL | Lower back strain |
| July 20, 2012 | Matt Diaz | 15-Day DL | Right thumb contusion |
| July 14, 2012 | Jack Wilson | 15-Day DL | Dislocated right pinkie finger |
| July 09, 2012 | Andrelton Simmons | Day-to-Day | Broken right pinkie |
| July 09, 2012 | Andrelton Simmons | 15-Day DL | Broken right pinkie finger |
 Philadelphia Phillies |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| August 04, 2012 | Carlos Ruiz | 15-Day DL | Plantar fasciitis, left foot |
| July 23, 2012 | Placido Polanco | 15-Day DL | Lower back inflammation |
| July 09, 2012 | Raul Valdes | 15-Day DL | Strained right hip |
| June 25, 2012 | Brian Schneider | 15-Day DL | Sprained right ankle - out 3-5 weeks |
| June 25, 2012 | Brian Schneider | 15-Day DL | Sprained right ankle - out 3-5 weeks |
| June 07, 2012 | Freddy Galvis | 15-Day DL | Lower back strain |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Since returning from Tommy John surgery, Ben Sheets hasn't been the power pitcher he was prior to the right elbow injury.
He's been plenty effective, though.
Sheets pitched into the eighth inning and Jason Heyward homered to lead the streaking Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.
Sheets (4-1) had his longest outing since joining Atlanta's rotation on July 15 after missing all of last season. He allowed one run on seven hits while walking one and striking out none.
"You can really tell the experience when he's on the mound," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He just keeps on giving us good outings."
Sheets is averaging almost one less strikeout per game since his comeback, 5.4 strikeouts per game before the injury to 4.6 this season, but he owns a 1.13 ERA in five starts this season. He had a career 3.80 ERA entering this season.
"He doesn't have the pop on his fastball he used to, but he knows how to pitch," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He worked us in and out and it looked like our left-handed hitters, especially, were trying to do too much."
Freddie Freeman drove in two runs, Brian McCann went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Dan Uggla had a pair of hits for the Braves, who have won 11 of 13 overall.
"We had a good overall offensive performance," Gonzalez said.
John Mayberry Jr. homered for the Phillies, who have lost seven straight to Atlanta.
Sheets, who had surgery in August 2010, has pitched well in his five starts this season. He retired eight straight batters at one point, and kept Phillies batters off balance all evening.
"Thank God I didn't have to dominate with a strikeout because I didn't have one," Sheets said. "Anytime I have two strikes on a hitter I want to strike him out because then nothing bad can happen, but outs are good too."
No Phillies player struck out, even against relievers Eric O'Flaherty and Cristhian Martinez , who combined to pitch 1 2-3 scoreless innings.
The Braves took a 3-0 lead in the third, highlighted by Freeman's two-run double that bounced just over the first-base bag. Martin Prado scored the second run on Freeman's hit, just beating catcher Brian Schneider 's tag. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel came out to argue the play, but replays appeared to show home-plate umpire Eric Cooper made the correct call.
Freeman, who went to third on the throw to the plate, reached on a wild pitch by Vance Worley .
Worley (6-7) had his shortest outing of the season, lasting just 3 2-3 innings and giving up four runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts. He had a stomach ailment before the game, but told Manuel he wanted to pitch.
"I definitely wasn't feeling my best, but I wanted to go out there and pitch for my team," Worley said. "I went out there with heart."
Atlanta tacked on a run in the fourth when Paul Janish scored on Michael Bourn 's RBI single to left. Philadelphia got that run back, drawing within 4-1 on Mayberry Jr.'s leadoff homer to left in the bottom half.
Atlanta went up 5-1 in the seventh when Heyward scored from first on a single. Brian McCann lined to right and the ball glanced off the tip of charging Nate Schierholtz 's glove. Schierholtz thought he caught the ball and was slow to react, allowing Heyward to race all the way around to home plate.
Heyward made it a five-run game with his 18th homer, a solo shot to right in the ninth.
The Phillies' crowd of 41,665 halted the club's consecutive sellout streak at 257 games, which is the third-longest in MLB history according to the club. The streak started on July 7, 2009.
Philadelphia was 154-103 during those games with Citizens Bank Park averaging 45,082 fans per game for a total draw of 11,585,952.
"It's kind of up to us that we get our team together, get better and get our crowd back," Manuel said. "I'm sure we can. I'm sorry because we didn't sell out. It just goes to show you what kind of a season we've had."
Atlanta won its second straight Monday game after losing the first 12 Monday games of the season. As they did last Monday when they broke the losing streak, the Braves wore their socks high as a team.
"We'll keep doing whatever works," Gonzalez said.
NOTES: The Phillies activated left-hander Raul Valdes from the DL and optioned infielder Hector Luna to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Valdes had been out since July 9 with a right hip strain. He pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings Monday, striking out three. . Jimmy Rollins snapped an 0-for-16 skid with an eighth-inning single. . Philadelphia left-hander Cole Hamels (11-6, 3.34 ERA) is scheduled to face Atlanta lefty Mike Minor (6-7, 5.01) in the second of the three-game set at 7:05 Tuesday.
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Atlanta Braves