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PHILADELPHIA — As he was going through the postgame handshake line, Kyle Wright received a request from Braves manager Brian Snitker.
“I want him to authenticate my own personal scorecard because I want him to sign it for me,” Snitker said. “To think of where he was a year ago to now is so awesome.”
Wright, 26, became the first 20-game winner in the majors this season, and Atlanta beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on Saturday to stop a three-game losing streak.
“I don’t know if I realized how cool it was until my teammates and coaches congratulated me real quick afterward,” Wright said. “It’s a team stat, and I couldn’t have done it without them scoring runs and playing defense.”
William Contreras and rookie Michael Harris II each homered and had three hits for the playoff-bound Braves (94-58), who moved within 1½ games of the first-place Mets in the NL East. New York lost 10-4 at Oakland.
The Mets and Braves play three games in Atlanta next weekend.
“We still have to take one foot ahead of the other,” Wright said. “It is like we are in postseason baseball right now. We’ve clinched our spot, but hopefully we can continue winning and hopefully we can bypass that first round.”
Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning for Philadelphia (83-68), which fell a half-game behind San Diego for the second NL wild card. The Phillies are 1½ games ahead of surging Milwaukee for the third and final spot.
“We got off to a slow start,” Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson said.
Wright, who came into the season with two career wins in 21 appearances, went 5⅓ innings and became the first Braves pitcher to win 20 games since Russ Ortiz won 21 in 2003. Wright is the seventh 20-game winner for the Braves since they moved to Atlanta in 1966, also joining Denny Neagle and four Hall of Famers: John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Phil Niekro and Tom Glavine.
“The experience that he got last year is the biggest thing that has happened to him,” Snitker said. “He sprung-board off the World…
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Source : espn
