ATLANTA -- The Braves’ offense had been struggling heading into an important weekend series against the Phillies at Truist Park.

Atlanta hammered nine homers over three games against Philadelphia -- including four in a 6-0 win on Sunday afternoon -- to earn a series victory and gain a game on the NL East leaders. The Braves (49-39) are now eight games behind the division-leading Phillies (58-32).

It was a short afternoon at the office for Phillies starting pitcher Michael Mercado. The righty escaped a first-inning mess in which he walked three batters, but Mercado had no such luck in the second inning when he allowed five runs on three big flies.

Adam Duvall started the party with a solo home run, then Orlando Arcia and Eli White singled to set the table for Jarred Kelenic's three-run homer. Matt Olson capped the inning’s scoring with a solo shot.

All three home runs went more than 400 feet and traveled a combined distance of 1,259 feet.

Eli White later added a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth.

Reynaldo López improved to 7-2 with a strong outing of six scoreless innings in which he allowed two hits and three walks while striking out six. López lowered his ERA to an MLB-leading 1.71.