ATLANTA --The Phillies came back from the All-Star break Friday night and suffered a 6-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
A.J. Burnett had an early 2-0 lead but let it get away as his string of quality starts was snapped at seven.
The Phillies have lost three straight games and five in a row to the Braves over the last three weeks.
The Phils are 42-54 and 11 games back in the NL East.
Starting pitching report
Burnett (6-9) allowed 10 hits and six runs over five innings. Five of the six runs that Burnett allowed came with two outs.
Atlanta right-hander Ervin Santana (8-6) held the Phils to four runs, three earned, over six innings.
MLB
Bullpen report
Jeff Manship, Antonio Bastardo and Justin De Fratus each pitched a scoreless inning for the Phillies.
Shae Simmons, Jordan Walden and Craig Kimbrel pitched scoreless ball for the Braves.
Kimbrel had his NL-leading 30th save.
At the plate
The Phils took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by Cody Asche and a base hit by Cameron Rupp. Ryan Howard knocked in two with a bloop single in the sixth.
Atlanta scored four times off Burnett in the second inning. Jason Heyward led off with a homer. B.J. Upton had an RBI double with two outs and Andrelton Simmons knocked in two with a two-out single. Heyward and Tommy La Stella knocked in runs with two-out hits in the fifth as the Braves took a 6-2 lead.
In the field
Atlanta catcher Christian Bethancourt and rightfielder Heyward both made defensive gems in the eighth inning. Bethancourt gunned down Jimmy Rollins at second as Rollins tried to move up on a ball that got away from the Atlanta catcher. Heyward took away a hit from Howard with a diving catch.
Health check
Cliff Lee’s elbow feels good. He will start Monday night in Philadelphia against the San Francisco Giants (see story).
Catcher Carlos Ruiz, recovering from a concussion, continues to play in minor-league games in Florida. Manager Ryne Sandberg indicated that Ruiz could return late next week.
Up next
Cole Hamels (3-5, 2.93) pitches against Atlanta’s Aaron Harang (9-6, 3.53) on Saturday night.