PHILADELPHIA -- With one of the best pitchers in franchise history out the door, the Philadelphia Phillies' focus is squarely on the future.

David Buchanan might not make the City of Brotherly Love forget Cole Hamels, the 2008 World Series MVP. But for one night, at least, the young right-hander helped the crowd of nearly 30,000 gathered at Citizens Bank Park feel a little better about the loss of one of their most beloved players.

Buchanan pitched one of the best games of his young major league career, and got all the backing he would need from the Phillies offense in a 9-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

Though it was a start that Hamels was started to make before he was shipped to Texas on Friday afternoon, Buchanan insisted he wasn't trying to replace anybody.

"Oh, no no," he said. "I'm just glad to be back with the team ... my thought was just to go out there and give my team a chance to win, we've been playing good baseball."

Despite trading away several valuable pieces -- including Hamels, center fielder Ben Revere and closer Jonathan Papelbon -- over the last few days, the Phillies' 11-2 record since the All-Star break is the best in the majors.

With a 13-12 mark in July, it's the first winning calendar month for the Phillies since last August.

"Couldn't be happier, everybody's playing pretty darn well," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "It's always very important after you lose a game to come back, bounce back and retain our energy, and we've certainly done that in the last two games."

It was a rough start to the 2015 season for Buchanan (2-5, 6.44 ERA), who went 0-5 with an 8.76 ERA in five April starts with the big-league ballclub. He started to right himself in the minors, however, and thanks to injuries and trades, he went 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in three July starts with the Phillies.

Now, he'll have the chance to prove he belongs for good.

"I'm looking at it as an opportunity for me," he said. "Every time I go out there, I just want to give an impression that I'm good enough to be here, and I have the confidence enough to take that role."

A two-run home run by Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman--the 100th of his career--chased Buchanan after 7 1/3 innings, but the Phillies' lead was such that it didn't put much of a damper on his evening.

While Buchanan thrived against the Braves lineup, the Phillies jumped all over Atlanta starter Williams Perez in his return from the disabled list. A three-run double by first baseman Ryan Howard cleared the bases with no outs in the first inning, which ended with the hometown squad up 4-0.

Howard went 2-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored and four RBIs, his first game of the season with four or more RBIs. Right fielder Domonic Brown and second baseman Cesar Hernandez joined him with two hits apiece.

The Phillies finally chased Perez (4-1, 4.14 ERA) during a five-run fifth inning that saw them bat around. A two-run home run by Brown put some significant space between the teams at 6-0, but it was an RBI single by Buchanan that was the last straw for Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez.

"The first inning, right off the get-go, his sinker wasn't sinking, it was kind of moving laterally," he said. "And then at the end some balls went through the hole and they got a big number there."

After beginning his first major league season 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA, Perez picked up his first career loss, going 4 1/3 innings while giving up nine runs (all earned) on nine hits.

The loss was the fifth in a row for Atlanta, but Gonzalez isn't too concerned yet with a young club that also lost several key pieces to trades.

"You're looking for those signs, you see guys busting their butts and they're not giving at-bats away," he said. "Those are the signs that you look for as a manager, as a coach, what are these guys giving you? And they're giving it to you. We're just not scoring runs."

NOTES: The Phillies added Pat Burrell to their Wall of Fame in a pregame ceremony that delayed the first pitch by 30 minutes. Burrell, a first-round pick by Philadelphia in the 1998 draft, played nine of his 13 seasons with the club, helping the Phillies win a World Series in 2008. ... The Phillies made two trades at Friday's non-waiver deadline, sending LHPs Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman to Texas for LHP Matt Harrison and five minor-leaguers; they also sent OF Ben Revere to Toronto for two minor league pitchers. ... The Braves reinstated starting pitcher Williams Perez from the 15-day disabled list and sent RHP Ryan Kelly down to Triple-A Gwinnett.