ATLANTA -- Before the Phillies left for their current road trip, Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin and pitching coach Bob McClure had a meeting with young pitchers Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff. Their message was simple: Pitch better.

Nola got his chance on Tuesday and responded with his best game of the season.

The right-hander allowed one run over eight innings to help the Phillies win their fourth straight game, a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. It was Philadelphia's fifth straight win against Atlanta.

"Boy did Nola rise to the challenge," Mackanin said. "He was outstanding."

Nola (3-3) gave up five hits and one walk and struck out six. His eight innings of work matched his career high. He improved his career record against Atlanta to 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA.

He retired eight consecutive batters after giving up a first-inning run and retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.

Nola became the first Philadelphia starter to throw a pitch in the eighth inning of a game since Jeremy Hellickson pitched a complete-game shutout against the Marlins on Sept. 17, 2016.

"Eick and I know what we need to do," Nola said. "We just need to execute our plan. Of course, it worked out tonight."

Mackanin even considered letting Nola try to finish the game. He had only thrown 97 pitches and Nola said he lobbied hard for a chance to pitch the ninth.

"It was great to see somebody go eight innings," Mackanin said. "He begged me to go out in the ninth. I decided against it at the last minute. Managerial decision. The last two hitters in that eighth inning hit the ball hard and I didn't want him to face the middle of the lineup for a fourth time."

The Braves tried to rally in the ninth inning against the Phillies' bullpen. Matt Kemp and Matt Adams had back-to-back singles with one out against Hector Neris. That was enough to convince Mackanin to lift Neris in favor of sidearm pitcher Pat Neshek, who struck out Adonis Garcia and got Kurt Suzuki to pop out to end the game. Neshek earned his first save.

Mackanin wouldn't say if he would make Neshek the new closer, but said he was concerned with the lack of effectiveness that Neris has had with his split-finger pitch.

"When he's got that real good split, he's unhittable," Mackanin said. "He doesn't have that right now."

Howie Kendrick was 3-for-4 and Freddy Galvis had two hits for the Phillies.

The Phillies took a 3-1 lead when they scored twice in the sixth inning. Cesar Hernandez and Odubel Herrera opened the inning with back-to-back doubles. Herrera went to third on Kendrick's single and scored when Jaime Garcia was called for a balk on a pickoff play to first.

Garcia contested the balk, the second straight game he's been tagged for one.

"I didn't agree with it," he said. "He made the call and it is what it is. They called a balk on my last game and I'm just trying to be smart right there. I don't agree."

Garcia (2-4) pitched 7 2/3 innings, the third time in four starts that he's pitched at least seven innings. He allowed three runs on eight hits and no walks with four strikeouts.

"Great job. He was really good again," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "He's been on the attack, in the zone. He's been nails. He gets in the eighth inning. That's outstanding."

The Braves jumped on Nola for a run in the first. Brandon Phillips doubled and scored on an opposite-field single by Nick Markakis.

Garcia retired the first 11 Philadelphia batters, a streak that ended when Kendrick hit a long solo homer to left, his third of the season, to tie the game at 1. It was the first home run and the first earned run allowed by Garcia since May 21.

Garcia continued to get little offensive support. The Braves average just 2.4 runs when Garcia pitches.

"I pretty much just try to master the things I can control," he said. "Things I can control are my work ethic, my attitude and continue to compete and keep us in the ball game."

NOTES: Philadelphia won consecutive road games for the first time since Sept. 5-6. ... Atlanta placed RHP Bartolo Colon (2-7, 7.78 ERA) on the 10-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. He was replaced on the roster by RHP Jason Hursh, who was 2-1 with a 3.09 ERA in 20 combined relief appearances with Triple-A Gwinnett and Double-A Mississippi. A replacement for Colon in the starting rotation is expected to be announced in a couple of days, manager Brian Snitker said. ... Philadelphia 1B Tommy Joseph is the franchise's fourth player to hit 30-plus homers in his first 162 games. ... Philadelphia great Mike Schmidt apologized to Odubel Herrera for saying the club could not build around the outfielder because of a language barrier. In a statement, Schmidt said his comments were "disrespectful to Hererra and Latin players in general."