Win, win, win. All wins are equal, but some wins are more equal than others.

Ronald Acuna Jr.‘s 3 run homer in the top of the 8th tied the score at 4, and an Ozzie Albies double and an Austin Riley triple put the Braves ahead for good in the 9th.

The Phillies opened the scoring with 2 unearned runs in the 1st. A leadoff walk to Kyle Schwarber and a throwing error by Mauricio Dubon put Tyler Mahle in a 2nd and 3rd, nobody out, hole right off the bat. After striking out Bryce Harper, Luis Arraez hit a sacrifice fly to score Schwarber, and an Alec Bohm double scored Turner. Mahle ended up going 6 innings, charged with no earned runs on 4 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts.

Atlanta couldn’t reach zombie Aaron Nola until the 6th, when Mike Yastrzemski walked, Drake Baldwin singled to right, and Acuna brought Yaz in with a sacrifice fly. Things looked pretty dire after Dylan Dodd allowed solo homers to Derek Hill and to Schwarber in the 7th to make it 4 – 1, but it only set the stage for Ronald.

Once again, Yastrzemski and Baldwin started the rally. Mike drew a 1-out walk, and Drake moved him to 3rd again, this time with a double. Acuna followed with a blast 414 feet into the left-centerfield seats, and a moment or 3 which he savored.

Dylan Lee came on in the 8th, and retired lefties Harper and Arraez before inducing a ground out from the right-handed hitting Bohm to send it to the 9th. The Phillies brought in Jhoan Duran for that inning, and Albies greeted him with a 1-out double. Ozzie went to 3rd on a Sean Murphy groundout and walked home on the Riley triple to right-center.

There was one last bit of drama to come. Bryson Stott hit a leadoff single against Raisel Iglesias in the bottom of the 9th, then went to 2nd on a groundout and to 3rd on a Sean Murphy passed ball. With the tying run on 3rd and the infield in, Bryan De La Cruz hit a rocket that Dubon speared for the 2nd out. Iglesias struck out pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa to end it.

When Brad Daugherty was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the bad-boy Detroit Pistons, he said something to the effect of: “However you want to play, we’ll play.” I think of this when I think of Phillies fans, which makes it extra satisfying to me to win on their home turf, and the crueler the better.

Atlanta re-opens a 5-game lead over Philadelphia and clinches at least a split in the series, with days running out. The series concludes Monday at 1:05, Bryce Elder Grant Holmes and Jesus Luzardo scheduled.