Game Recap:
After an off day and a rain out, the Phillies got back to work tonight, winning their fifth straight game, this one against the Miami Marlins. Vince Velasquez pitched into the seventh inning, while Maikel Franco hit his second grand slam of the season to push the Phillies over the .500 mark for the first time this season.
What went right?
As mentioned before, Vince Velasquez pitched into the seventh inning tonight, and picked up his first win of the season. He lasted 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out three.
Maikel Franco had an excellent game at the plate, going 3-4 with his second grand slam of the season. His three hits pushed his batting average over the .200 mark, and it looks like things are moving in the right direction for the young third baseman.
Michael Saunders nailed his first home run as a member of the Phillies in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach. He finished the game 1-3 with that two run shot.
Freddy Galvis went 2-4 tonight with a solo home run in the sixth inning.
Aaron Altherr kept his hitting streak alive with a 1-3 night at the plate. He also worked a walk late in the game while facing an 0-2 count.
The bridge to the ninth inning worked perfectly tonight. Joely Rodriguez needed just five pitches to record the last two outs of the seventh inning, and Joaquin Benoit worked a perfect eighth inning to get the game to the top of the ninth with the Phillies in front.
What went wrong?
Cesar Hernandez had a rough game, as he went 0-4 at the plate while only seeing seven total pitches. He also had a fielding miscue in the top of the seventh that could have resulted in an Miami rally, had Joely Rodriguez not been on point.
Cameron Rupp went 0-4 with three strikeouts.
Hector Neris had another rough go of things in the ninth inning. While he didn't lose the game, Neris allowed a run on two hits. He did strike out two, and didn't walk a batter.
Game Analysis:
A rain out last night wasn't enough to slow the Phillies down tonight, as Maikel Franco's third inning grand slam gave the team the lead. Home runs from Freddy Galvis and Michael Saunders finished the scoring, and gave the Phillies their fifth straight win, this one by a score of 7-4 over the Miami Marlins.
After scuffling in his first two starts, Vince Velasquez looked much better tonight on the mound. He wasn't trying to get the strikeout on every hitter, and when he was pitching to contact, the Phillies had his back on defense. Velasquez struggled a little bit through the first three innings, giving up two runs in the frames, but he settled down after that, and didn't give up another run until the top of the seventh inning. By then, the Phillies had taken the lead for good, so another run at that point didn't matter all that much.
The biggest boost on offense came, once again, from Maikel Franco. The 24 year old third baseman recorded his third multi-hit game in this winning streak, and more importantly, hit his second grand slam of the season in the bottom of the third inning. The moon shot put the Phillies up 4-2, and gave Franco 20 runs batted in on the season. While Franco might not be picking up enough hits for some fans, his 20 RBI are tied for second in the National League, and when you're just behind someone named Bryce Harper, that's not a very bad thing at all. The great thing with Franco is that he is making solid contact on a lot of pitches, but he just needs to hit the ball into open spaces. Tonight, he did that. All three of his hits went back up the middle of the field, and you could tell he was sitting on the pitch that he deposited for the grand slam. One last thing about Franco: he's already tied the Phillies lead for grand slams last season. It took Ryan Howard from April until October to hit two grand slams last year. This year, Maikel Franco has already hit two grand slams, and it's April 26th.
Also on the offensive side of things, it was good to see Michael Saunders get his first home run with the Phillies, and it came in a big spot, too. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Saunders launched a ball into the right field stands for a two run blast that put the Phillies up 7-3. The home run removed any sort of save situation, which is always nice, and also allowed Saunders to enjoy his first longball with the Phils, who are hoping he can come close to his 24 home runs that he hit last season. While his batting average is doing ok at .262, it's great to see one of the few free agent additions the Phillies had this year contributing in a good way. Here's hoping that's the first of many more home runs to come from Mr. Saunders.
After Velasquez left the game, the Phillies left it up to Joely Rodriguez to get out of a two run game with the tying run at the plate and a runner on second. With future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki at the plate, Rodriguez got it done, getting Ichiro to line out to third. The pitch should have resulted in a double play, but Cesar Hernandez couldn't find the base, and then attempted to tag the runner on second, resulting in the Phillies needing to record another out. Luckily, Rodriguez continued his hot streak, and then Joaquin Benoit showed again why he should be the eighth inning pitcher by recording three outs on just eight pitches.
Hector Neris did struggle again in the ninth, however. After he picked up the first two outs relatively painlessly, Neris allowed back to back hits, which scored a run and put the Marlins closer. Fortunately, he struck out Derek Dietrich with a runner on second to end the game. My concern about Neris is growing just a little bit more, because he had two days off between the last Atlanta game and this one, and he still struggled to record the last three outs. Whether or not he's going to be the long term solution at closer isn't clear yet, but it would be nice to not have to worry so much about getting the last three outs of any game.
The Phillies go for the short two game sweep tomorrow afternoon. For Miami, it's Edinson Volquez (0-2, 4.82 ERA) getting the start. For the Phils, Jeremy Hellickson (3-0, 1.88 ERA) appears to be the starter as he goes for his fourth win of the season.
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