Phillies squeak past the Braves, 1-0

The Phillies batboy plucked Freddy Galvis' batting helmet from the dirt near home plate as the team celebrated near first base. The helmet had been spiked by Galvis after he leaped to his feet following his slide into home for the winning run of Friday's 1-0, walk-off win over Atlanta. It was left behind as he sprinted to grab Ben Revere, who ignited the celebration with a grounder to first base.

Galvis reached on a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cesar Hernandez. With Revere batting, he moved to third on a passed ball. His baserunning was instinctive, manager Ryne Sandberg said. Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman booted Revere's grounder. Galvis slid into home without a throw.

"I just tried to get to home plate as quick as I can," Galvis said. "It worked good. . . . I was just running. I didn't see anybody. Soon as I saw the ball on the ground, I started running."

The Phillies had left 11 runners on base before the winning run. Any attempt to provide run support for starter Aaron Harang proved fruitless. Harang finished with six strikeouts and one walk over eight scoreless innings.

The righthander is the first Phillies pitcher since Cliff Lee in April 2013 to throw at least eight scoreless innings and allow two or fewer hits.

"I was able to figure out my zone and figure out my limitations," Harang said. "Me and Chooch were on the same page from the get-go. Everything he threw down was exactly what I was thinking. One of those fun nights where everything falls into sync."

The Phillies left runners on first and third in the first inning. The bases were left loaded in the sixth. They appeared on the verge of a breakthrough in the eighth, when Chase Utley advanced to third on Ryan Howard's line drive to right. It brought up Cody Asche with one out and runners on first and third. Asche had hit 21 fly balls or line drives before Friday, according to Baseball Reference. A sacrifice fly, at the very least, was in reach.

Instead, Asche bunted. The ball popped off his bat and into the glove of first baseman Freddie Freeman. No runners advanced. Carlos Ruiz ended the inning with a strikeout. Sandberg said the bunt was Asche's decision. The manager said he would have preferred him to swing away.

It guaranteed that Harang, despite turning in the finest Phillies pitching performance this season, would earn a no-decision. Harang was the first Phillies pitcher this season to pitch past the seventh inning. He had thrown 95 pitches through seven innings. Sandberg elected to allow him to bat in the top of the eighth. The move worked. Harang needed just eight pitches to retire the three eighth-inning batters he faced.

After the Phillies' celebration wound down, Galvis was smashed in the face with a towel full of shaving cream. Remnants of it remained caked in his black hair nearly a half hour after he spiked his helmet in the dirt. Galvis said he was not worried.

"I have shampoo," he said, before walking toward the showers to wash away a win.