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Correia, Phillies hammered in Atlanta

ATLANTA - Kevin Correia arched his back and lifted his head to the sky after Atlanta's Alex Wood smacked his fastball to the outfield, leading off the fourth inning of a 9-5 Phillies loss Saturday night at Turner Field. If yielding a hit to the opposing pitcher was not bad enough, it was about to get worse.

ATLANTA - Kevin Correia arched his back and lifted his head to the sky after Atlanta's Alex Wood smacked his fastball to the outfield, leading off the fourth inning of a 9-5 Phillies loss Saturday night at Turner Field. If yielding a hit to the opposing pitcher was not bad enough, it was about to get worse.

The line drive sailed past Jeff Francoeur, who was positioned in shallow right field. Odubel Herrera hustled to the warning track, but the ball fell out of the centerfielder's glove when he reached to retrieve it. Wood was safe at third. Atlanta's four-run inning had begun. Correia's night was all but finished.

The Phillies opened the second half of this long season in the same fashion in which they played the first 81 games. It was their sixth straight loss and ninth in 10 games. They are on pace to lose 110 games. A loss on Sunday would mark the ninth time they have been swept this season.

"Five runs, 11 hits. That's the kind of game that you have to win," interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "It's like Groundhog Day."

Correia allowed nine earned runs in just 32/3 innings. He is the 10th Phillies starter to allow nine runs or more since 2005. The righthander is the first since Raul Valdes in 2013. Correia allowed 10 hits, walked two, and struck out one.

It was the 14th time in 18 games that a Phillies starting pitcher did not pitch at least six innings.

"That's the most frustrating part about it," Correia said. "I can deal with getting hit around. I can deal with pretty much anything. But I want to be out there as long as possible. And that's not happening right now."

The final blow he allowed was an RBI single in the fourth by Kelly Johnson. Wood scored two batters earlier on a a single by Cameron Maybin. Nick Markakis followed with a two-run double. It was the second time in Correia's career that he allowed nine earned runs.

Four of the Phillies' five runs came after Correia's exit. The Phillies left seven runners on base. It was the fifth straight game in which they stranded at least seven baserunners.

"We just couldn't get the fireworks on the Fourth of July that we were looking for," Mackanin said.

The team was down by eight when Darin Ruf hit a three-run home run off the top of the left-field wall, making the score 9-4. It was his fourth homer of the season and his first since May 17. Saturday was Ruf's second start since being recalled on June 24 from triple A. He is 3 for 16 since then.

Correia was relieved by Elvis Araujo, who logged 22/3 scoreless innings for the longest outing of his rookie season. The lefthander helped keep the game under control and did not allow an already tired bullpen to become exhausted. Justin De Fratus tacked on a scoreless inning with just 11 pitches. Jake Diekman pitched a scoreless eighth.

The relievers' work was for naught as the early deficit proved too much. Correia allowed nine runs, but just one came from a homer. Cameron Maybin crushed Correia's hanging slider to center for a solo homer, and Atlanta had a five-run lead before the end of the second inning. The pitcher kicked the dirt on the mound as fireworks flashed. Correia's night looked bad. But it was going to get worse.

@matt_breen