Major League Baseball
Atlanta 7, Philadelphia 2
When: 7:05 PM ET, Monday, September 7, 2015
Where: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Temperature: 89°
Umpires: Home - Doug Eddings, 1B - Adrian Johnson, 2B - Tom Woodring, 3B - Bill Miller
Attendance: 15125

PHILADELPHIA -- In a season of big adjustments, Atlanta Braves third baseman Hector Olivera made a small one Monday night, and it helped his team end a 12-game losing streak.

Olivera, a 31-year-old rookie from Cuba playing his sixth game for Atlanta, supported the strong seven-inning effort of Williams Perez with a two-run double and a two-run homer, and the Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2.

First baseman Freddie Freeman added a two-run homer for the Braves, who ended their longest skid since a 17-gamer in 1977. They also halted a 13-game road losing streak, their longest since a 15-gamer in 1935.

"It's been a tough time getting W's," manager Fredi Gonzalez said, "and today I think everybody contributed."

Especially Olivera, who played in Cuba for more than a decade, then defected and signed a six-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in March. Atlanta acquired him in a three-team trade on July 30.

"It's going to be tough for a young man," Gonzalez said. "This guy not only traded teams in the middle of the season, he came from a different country and is trying to do the whole language (thing). It's going to take a while."

Philadelphia starter Aaron Harang (5-15) fanned him with sliders out of the strike zone his first two times up. Olivera faced Harang again in the fourth, after an RBI double by shortstop Andrelton Simmons gave the Braves a 3-1 lead. Harang also issued a two-out intentional walk to right fielder Nick Markakis, the man batting immediately in front of Olivera.

Olivera foiled the strategy by ripping a 1-1 fastball into the gap in left-center field for a double, driving in two runs and putting Atlanta ahead 5-1.

"Yeah, I made an adjustment," Olivera said through an interpreter. "Let's be honest, those pitches weren't very good pitches at all (the first two times up). They were horrible pitches to swing at. I wasn't focused. I focused a little better on the next few at-bats after that and looked for a pitch I could drive, and I got them and put good swings on them."

Harang had a different view.

"I felt like that was the only real mistake I made," Harang said.

Olivera added his first major league homer, a two-run shot off reliever Colton Murray, in the ninth.

Perez (5-6) put an end to a personal six-game losing streak, allowing two runs and six hits while striking out seven. He didn't walk a batter, just the second time he avoided doing that in 16 starts this season.

Philadelphia dropped its fifth straight.

The game, featuring the teams with the two worst records in the major leagues, drew just 15,125 fans, the smallest crowd in the 12-year history of Citizens Bank Park.

Harang lost for the 12th time in his past 13 decisions and became the first major league pitcher to drop 15 games this season. He went five innings and yielded five runs and eight hits while striking out six and walking three.

"They came out swinging," Harang said. "They know I'm going to throw strikes. That's what I do. They came out swinging."

Markakis led off the first inning with a double, and one out later, Freeman lined Harang's 1-0 fastball into the seats in left field, his 16th home run of the season.

The Phillies cut the gap to 2-1 on a sacrifice fly by right fielder Aaron Altherr in the third, but in the fourth, the doubles by Simmons and Olivera produced three runs and gave the Braves a 5-1 lead.

Philadelphia pinch hitter Brian Bogusevic hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth, in his first at-bat since his contract was selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday. It was the fourth pinch-hit homer of his career.

NOTES: Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said before the game that OF Domonic Brown, who sustained a concussion when he flipped over a retaining wall in Citi Field on Wednesday, was still feeling the effects. "I'd be surprised if he even came back the rest of the year," Mackanin said. ... Philadelphia will use a six-man rotation the rest of the way, to limit the workload of its young pitchers. It is not clear, however, who will start Wednesday's game against Atlanta. Mackanin said a decision probably would be made Tuesday. ... The Braves turned another double play Monday, giving them 151 this season, second in the major leagues to Pittsburgh (153). Andrelton Simmons has been involved in 100 of those, tops among major league shortstops.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Atlanta   Philadelphia
Williams Perez Player Aaron Harang
Win W/L Loss
7.0 IP 5.0
7 Strikeouts 6
6 Hits 8
2.57 ERA 9.00
Hitting
Atlanta   Philadelphia
Jace Peterson Player Cesar Hernandez
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
3 TB 3
.750 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Atlanta 12 2 22 .324 14 7 7 3 1 0
Philadelphia 6 1 12 .194 9 9 2 0 1 0