ATLANTA (AP) — The sight of Freddie Freeman being hit by a pitch near the spot where his wrist was fractured last season left the Atlanta Braves revisiting bad memories they hope won’t be repeated.

It was enough to make it difficult for Atlanta to celebrate its fourth straight home series win.

Ryan Flaherty homered and drove in four runs, Brandon McCarthy outpitched Vince Velasquez and the Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 on Wednesday night despite losing Freeman in the eighth inning.

Phillies left-hander Hoby Milner hit Freeman near the base of his left hand. Freeman winced, stood at the plate for a few seconds and then walked straight to the dugout to take himself out of the game.

Freeman was on track for his best season and a possible MVP run last year before missing seven weeks with a fractured left wrist. He hit .307 with 28 homers in 117 games — his second season playing fewer than 120 games in the last three years — and his time on the disabled list helped send the Braves to a 90-loss finish. READ MORE>