Phillies launch two more homers and sweep Braves

The Phillies crushed two more homers Wednesday, and that is why they swept Atlanta with a 4-3 victory, but when they needed the tying run to reach base in the eighth inning, Maikel Franco did not swing. A 100-mph fastball zoomed past him for ball four.

Franco flicked his bat toward the Phillies dugout, a challenge to the rest of his teammates to keep mashing the ball like they have for weeks.

"He looks like he's more under control," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "It could a byproduct of the fact that other guys around him have started to chip in, to where he doesn't feel like he has to do it all by himself."

And when Freddy Galvis went deep, there was Franco to greet him at home plate with a two-handed high five. The Phillies, a slap-hitting team until three weeks ago, have thrived on the long ball. Add Galvis to the list of surprising sluggers.

It's hittin' weather, as Charlie Manuel liked to say when he managed at Citizens Bank Park.

Galvis' two-run homer in the eighth inning scored Franco and pushed the Phillies ahead for a three-game sweep of the Braves. It was Galvis' eighth homer, a new career best. As the Phillies' lineup came to life, the shortstop was one of the few hitters who had not emerged from a slump.

"Man, baseball is a funny game," Galvis said. "Sometimes you are down a little bit on yourself. I am just trying to help the team win some games. I was trying too hard and right now I feel pretty good."

With a restored confidence, the Phillies hitters' headed to thin-aired Coors Field to conclude the first half of the season. They have homered 24 times in their last 15 games, 10 of which were victories.

A relaxed Franco has led the charge. He blasted an opposite-field homer in the sixth inning, his fourth homer in four games. No Phillies hitter had done that since Ryan Howard in 2012.

Franco has 17 homers in 80 games. As the rest of the lineup comes to life around him, the young slugger need not bear the brunt of pressure.

"When you see the team not do really well, that's the first thing you think about," Franco said. "You want to go out there and try to do something. Obviously, at that point, you try to do too much. But right now, I just feel comfortable at the plate. The team's showing a lot of energy."

Galvis wondered if it was the other way around. Once Franco settled into his comfort zone, the rest of the hitters followed.

"After he gets some hits," Galvis said, "his confidence just goes up. And when his confidence goes up, everybody wants to be like Mike."

It helps when hapless Atlanta is the opponent. The Phillies were scheduled to see Braves ace Julio Teheran, but an infection in his right thigh caused by an ingrown hair sidelined him. So Tyrell Jenkins, a rookie who had not started a game since late May at triple A, slid into the rotation.

He allowed just one run in 42/3 innings. But once the Phillies had a few cracks at Atlanta's porous bullpen, the runs flowed. Arodys Vizcaino, the Braves' hard-throwing closer, threw Franco six fastballs. Franco fouled off the fifth for a full count.

"Before, I'm not taking 3-2 in a one-run game," Franco said. "When I do that, it means I'm working the right way and I see the pitch the right way."

The 100-mph fastball just missed outside. The tying run reached base, and the big swing was three batters from happening.

"If you a betting man, you wouldn't bet that he'd take a walk because he was trying to tie the game up," Mackanin said. "But he had a great at-bat there."

mgelb@philly.com

@MattGelb