ATLANTA — The Phillies' four-game winning streak came to an emphatic end in a 14-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on Wednesday night.
The 13-run margin of defeat was the Phils' largest of the season. The previous mark was 10 and that came on Friday night in a loss to the San Francisco Giants.
Jerad Eickhoff continued to struggle as he fell to 0-7 in 12 starts.
The Phillies are 21-36, worst in the majors.
Starting pitching report
Eickhoff gave up four hits and four runs over five innings. One of the runs was unearned.
The right-hander got through the first three innings on just one hit. He gave up a single and an RBI double with one out in the fourth as the Braves went up, 1-0. Eickhoff was tagged for a three-run homer by Dansby Swanson with no outs in the fifth. The home run was preceded by an error by Maikel Franco and a walk.
MLB
Eickhoff has a 5.15 ERA.
Atlanta's Mike Foltynewicz (4-5) tossed seven shutout innings, scattering four hits and two walks. He struck out three. Over his last two starts, the right-hander has pitched 14 scoreless innings.
Bullpen update
Adam Morgan was charged with four runs in 1 1/3 inning of work. Luis Garcia gave up five runs in the eighth.
It got so bad that utility man Andres Blanco had to pitch. He got the final out in the eighth but not before giving up a two-run homer to Matt Adams.
Manager Pete Mackanin said Pat Neshek would have been the closer if the Phillies had needed one. (Obviously, they did not.) Neshek got the final two outs in Tuesday night's win after Hector Neris allowed a pair of one-out hits. Mackanin planned to meet with Neris on Wednesday.
"We've got to go to work on Neris," Mackanin said. "We're going to have him in here to discuss his lack of success recently and talk about his splitter. We've got to get him straightened out because he was unhittable last year. He's hanging too many splitters."
At the plate
The Phillies had just seven hits and only five in the first eight innings.
Odubel Herrera stroked his NL-leading 20th double in the first inning and his 21st in the ninth. He has 11 hits in the last five games and all of them are for extra bases.
Daniel Nava's RBI hit in the ninth ended the Braves' shutout bid.
The Braves had 12 hits.
Swanson had the big hit for Atlanta, a three-run homer against Eickhoff on a flat, 0-1 slider in the fifth. Swanson finished with three hits.
Nick Markakis had three doubles and five RBIs for the Braves.
In the field
Franco's error in the fifth hurt.
Health check
Good news on Zach Eflin, not so good news on Roman Quinn (see story).
Roster move
Reliever Joely Rodriguez was designated for assignment after the game. The left-hander had a 6.33 ERA in 27 innings.
Up next
The four-game series concludes on Thursday night. Ben Lively (1-0, 1.29) looks to build on a successful major-league debut when he pitches against Atlanta knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (3-4, 4.95).