The bottom two teams in the National League East are trending in opposite directions, which was magnified as the Braves finished a sweep of the Phillies with a 2-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

Julio Teheran and Jake Thompson matched zeros for all but the second inning, when Matt Kemp provided the lone run off Thompson in Atlanta’s sixth win in a row and second straight sweep. Conversely, the loss was the Phillies’ sixth in a row and closed out a winless homestand that was bookended by shutouts of the home team. Philadelphia didn’t score more than four runs in any of the six losses and averaged only 1.8 per game.
“We’re striking out too much. We don’t have a good two-strike approach,” said Phillies manager Pete Mackanin after his team struck out 13 times on Sunday. “I keep preaching about plate discipline; we’re not showing a lot of plate discipline. It looks like we’re behind fastballs and not putting the ball in play with two strikes.”
Freddie Freeman added another blast off Michael Mariot in the eighth. Freeman had already doubled earlier to extend his on-base streak to 26 games — the longest active such streak in the Majors — and his hitting streak to 11. Ender Inciarte singled in the sixth to move his streak to 15 games. The Braves own the longest active on-base and hitting streaks in the big leagues.
“They’re threats every time they go up there, both those guys,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Freeman and Kemp. “You saw today what they can do. They carried us.”
With 6 1/2 games separating them in the standings, the Braves and Phillies are now the closest they’ve been since June 27, less than a week after Atlanta’s only other winning streak of six games.
The Phillies couldn’t muster a hit off Teheran until a Maikel Franco single to lead off the fourth, and they weren’t able to capitalize on other base hits later in the game. Teheran loaded the bases in each of his final two innings, but he escaped unscathed each time. He exited after six innings and 109 pitches without allowing a run, turning in his best effort since returning from the disabled list five starts ago. Teheran has now tossed 13 innings over his last two starts, while allowing just two runs and striking out 15.
“Obviously he’s healthy. His velocity’s back up. He’s back in the swing, so to speak,” Snitker said. “The first couple [starts after] he came back, well he’d been off a while, getting back into that routine and … what you do between starts were kind of out of whack. Right now, he’s back where he needs to be.”
“After that last month and a half where I had a little bit of sickness and was on the DL, I’ve got everything together,” Teheran added. “Everything is working like it was working at the beginning of the year. Whenever I have everything, everything goes good.”
The Phillies and Braves combined to load the bases in four consecutive half innings, and neither team scored a run. Eleven runners were stranded in the process. Franco grounded out to third base in the bottom of the fifth. Nick Markakis grounded into a double play to end the top of the sixth. Peter Bourjos roped a line drive to right field, but it was right at Markakis. Adonis Garcia then grounded out to third to leave three men on in the seventh inning, the last for Thompson.
After taking a moment to think, Snitker couldn’t recall a time where he saw teams load the bases and proceed to not score for four consecutive half-innings.
“I live inning to inning,” Snitker said. “Once the inning’s over, I’m turning the page and thinking about the next one. In the seventh, I was trying to figure out who to pitch in the eighth. … I guess any team could have blown this thing wide open, but their starter did a really good job. He’s pretty good at getting out of trouble, too.”
Only the Rockies and Red Sox have scored more runs than the Braves since Kemp’s first game in an Atlanta uniform on Aug. 2. Although the two runs Sunday won’t do wonders to that stat, of course it was Kemp who provided one of them. His second-inning home run was his fifth as a Brave. Kemp homered in two of the three games in Philadelphia, and he has now driven in 24 runs in the 31 games he’s started for the Braves.
Thompson’s last two starts have been much more like what the Phillies envisioned when they called up the 22-year-old last month. Thompson allowed just one run in seven frames, going that distance for his second start in a row. He’s lowered his ERA from 9.78 to 6.48 in his past two starts.
“After his first four outings with us, we weren’t sure what we were seeing,” Mackanin said. “His last two outings, especially today, he pitched extremely well. That was great to see.”
Sunday’s game came close to breaking a Major League record. At 3 hours and 13 minutes, the Phillies and Braves came 20 minutes short of playing the longest nine-inning, 2-0 game in MLB history. The longest remains the Yankees’ 2-0 win over the Twins on July 12, 2013, checking in at 3 hours and 33 minutes.
Ryan Weber (1-0, 5.24 ERA) will become the 15th man to start a game for the Braves this season when they open up a three-game set at Nationals Park on Monday at 3:05 CT. He’s made 12 appearances out of Atlanta’s bullpen and started five times at Triple-A. The Braves have dropped 11 of 13 games this season to the Nats.

There were a few big names among the Tennessee Titans cuts to 53 players on Friday.

Two of the first cuts made were wide receiver Justin Hunter and running back Bishop Sankey, both former second-round picks by the Titans. In a bit of a surprise move, the Titans also released veteran running back and kick returner Dexter McCluster, who had drawn praise from head coach Mike Mularkey.

That means that rookie safety Kevin Byard and receiver Tre McBride are the in-house candidates to handle punts and kickoffs now.

Hunter, a second-round pick in 2013, was let go as the Titans were disappointed that he did not have the consistency that they were looking for in their wide receiver group.

Sankey was let go as the Titans have fortified their rushing attack with DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry and look potentially to have Antonio Andrews as their last back. Andrews had two rushing touchdowns in the win over Miami Thursday night.

Third-rounder Jeremiah Poutasi became the fifth member of the Titans 2015 draft class to be shown the door, when he was let go on Friday as well. A source indicated that Poutasi would be a strong practice squad candidate if he clears waivers.

The Titans also cut cornerback Kalan Reed, who had been Mr. Irrelevant in the 2016 draft class. Reed had made a strong bid for a cornerback position in the Titans secondary as a backup. The Titans tried him on returns vs. Miami, but he had two fumbles.

The Titans waived safety Marqueston Huff, rather than place him on the suspended list for one-game after the league idled him for the season opener.

The following is a list of players who have been released.

WR Justin Hunter

RB Bishop Sankey

LB Curtis Grant

OG Jeremiah Poutasi

LB J.R.Tavai

OT Will Poehls

FB Sam Bergen

CB Kalan Reed

WR Ben Roberts

S Marqueston Huff

TE Alex Ellis

TE Jerome Cunningham

CB B.W. Webb

RB David Fluellen

DT Antwaun Woods

RB Dexter McCluster

C Ronald Patrick

T Tyler Marz

WR Andrew Turzilli

K Aldrick Rosas

S Curtis Riley

LB Justin Staples

The New Orleans Zephyrs scored a run in the seventh and three in the eighth to steal a 4-3 win over the Nashville Sounds Sunday night at Zephyr Field.

Nashville built a 3-0 lead on a strong pitching performance from Daniel Gossett and home runs from Franklin Barreto and Rangel Ravelo only to see the bullpen cough it up late.

Gossett allowed one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings and was in line for the win in his second career Triple-A start before the ‘pen faltered.

Gossett and Dylan Axelrod kept the other team’s offense off the scoreboard for the first five innings. In the top of the sixth, Barreto broke the stalemate with a solo homer – his first home run at the Triple-A level.

Gossett turned in another scoreless frame in the bottom of the sixth and the Sounds held a 1-0 lead going to the seventh.

With reliever Hunter Adkins in the game, Colin Walsh worked a two-out walk to put a runner on for Ravelo. The left fielder crushed a 1-0 pitch from Adkins out to left-center to give the Sounds a 3-0 lead.

The Zephyrs finally broke through against Gossett with two outs in the home half of the seventh. Austin Nola’s RBI single plated Cole Gillespie to pull New Orleans within a pair of runs at 3-1.

Eduard Santos relieved Gossett in the seventh and ended the inning with no further damage. However, the right-hander immediately found trouble in the eighth. Elliot Soto started the inning with a double. After striking out Francisco Arcia, Santos walked Isaac Galloway and allowed an RBI single to Cole Figeroa to make it a 3-2 game.

The Sounds turned to Aaron Kurcz out of the bullpen but it didn’t work. Gillespie drilled a double to the gap in left-center, scoring Galloway and Figeroa to give the Zephyrs a 4-3 lead.

Matt Olson came through with a one-out single in the ninth, but was stranded when Renato Nunez and Walsh struck out.

Prior to the loss, the Sounds were 69-5 in games they were leading after seven innings. It’s the first series they’ve lost since before the All-Star break in mid-July.

The two teams wrap up the regular season with the third and final game of the series Monday afternoon in New Orleans. Right-hander Jesse Hahn (1-7, 4.32) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Kendry Flores (3-6, 4.53) for the Zephyrs. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Tickets for the 2016 Pacific Coast League playoff dates at First Tennessee Park are now available for purchase at the Nashville Sounds box office and online at www.nashvillesounds.com. The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate.

Matt Chapman’s three-homer game wasn’t enough for the Nashville Sounds in a 6-5 loss to the New Orleans Zephyrs Saturday night at Zephyr Field.

Chapman hit a home run in each of his first three at bats to become the seventh player in Sounds (83-58) history to hit three in a single game. The 23-year-old has seven home runs in 17 games with the Sounds and 36 in 134 games between Nashville and Double-A Midland.

The last three-homer game by a Sounds player was Russell Branyan who also did it against New Orleans on May 16, 2008. Others to accomplish the feat include Ryan Braun, Craig Wilson, Darnell Coles, Dan Pasqua and Steve Balboni.

Chapman’s first homer of the night came in the first inning and gave the Sounds a 2-0 lead. After Franklin Barreto’s infield single, Chapman launched a 1-1 pitch from Asher Wojciechowski out to center field.

New Orleans (68-70) came right back with three runs of their own against Nashville starter Angel Castro. Trailing 3-2 entering the top of the third, Chapman started the inning with his second blast of the night to even the game at 3-3.

The Zephyrs got home runs in the next two innings off Castro to take control. Matt Juengel drilled a two-run shot in the bottom of the third and Stephen McGree launched a solo homer to give New Orleans a 6-3 advantage.

Chapman was at it again in the fifth when he hit his third of the night. The solo shot to lead off the inning brought the deficit to 6-4. Chapman finished the night 4-for-5 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. All three homers came off Wojciechowski who ended up with the win.

Nashville had a number of chances late in the game but only cashed in once. Franklin Barreto’s two-out, RBI single made it a 6-5 game in the eighth.

The bullpen combination of Colt Hynes, Carlos Navas and Aaron Kurcz tossed four scoreless innings to keep it close, but the Sounds went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position at the plate.

Castro allowed six runs in four innings and was tagged with his eighth loss of the season.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for Sunday night in New Orleans. Right-hander Daniel Gossett (1-0, 2.57) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Dylan Axelrod (9-7, 4.31) for the Zephyrs. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

Tickets for the 2016 Pacific Coast League playoff dates at First Tennessee Park are now available for purchase at the Nashville Sounds box office and online at www.nashvillesounds.com. The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate.