Wheeler fans 9 in 6 sharp innings, Schwarber hits 41st homer to lift Phillies past Braves 4-2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler struck out nine in six sharp innings, Kyle Schwarber hit his MLB-leading 41st home run and the Philadelphia Phillies pulled within four games of the first-place Braves in the NL East with a 4-2 victory over Atlanta on Saturday night.

Luis Arraez had two hits and an RBI for the two-time defending division champion Phillies, who have won 16 of their last 20.

Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley went deep for Atlanta, which lost for just the third time in 12 games.

Wheeler (12-5) escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first inning and then looked more like the dominant right-hander he has been for much of his career after a shaky August in which he had a 6.26 ERA. Wheeler allowed one run on three hits.

Jhoan Duran tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 30th save.

After giving up a pair of singles and a walk to open the game, Wheeler got Michael Harris II on a foul pop fly, struck out Mauricio Dubón and induced an Ozzie Albies flyout.

Philadelphia scored two runs in the bottom of the frame off Martín Pérez (8-9) on Arraez’s RBI single and J.T. Realmuto’s bases-loaded walk. Acuña likely saved three runs with a stellar, inning-ending leaping catch of Bryson Stott’s liner to right-center field.

After Philadelphia took a three-run lead, Acuña clubbed an 0-1, 82-mph sinker from Wheeler into the second deck in left-center field in the third, pulling Atlanta within 3-1. Schwarber answered in the fourth with a drive to deep right to restore the three-run advantage.

The loudest cheers of the evening from the sellout crowd of 43,241 came when Wheeler fanned Acuña in the fifth after the Braves star danced around the bases with his home run trot two innings earlier.

Pérez was dominant in August, with a 1.76 ERA in six starts, but struggled in his first September outing. He surrendered four runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Braves RHP Tyler Mahle (5-10, 4.25 ERA) faces Phillies RHP Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.93) in the third game of a four-game set on Sunday afternoon.

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