GAME
RECAP: Tigers Dominate Phillies 3-1
Justin Verlander worked over the Phillies for eight
scoreless innings, and Miguel Cabrera doubled in one run and grounded in
another -- continuing his offensive awakening in May -- as Detroit captured its
eighth win in nine games with a 3-1 win over the Phillies on Tuesday night at
Comerica Park. The victory moved Detroit (23-22) over .500 for the first time
since May 5. Cabrera's first-inning double to the fence in left-center field
scored Cameron Maybin, who
took over the leadoff spot with Ian Kinsler out of the lineup, for a 1-0 lead.
Cabrera padded the lead with runners on second and third in the sixth, scoring
Maybin on a groundout to third before Victor Martinez singled home J.D. Martinez. That
was plenty for Verlander, who didn't allow a runner in scoring position after
the opening inning. His 10 strikeouts marked his second consecutive game in
double digits, his first such streak since 2013. "Pretty much the same as
what we've seen the last four starts," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.
"His fastball's really working for him. He's getting swings and misses on
it. He's mixing in his other stuff. His slider was really good, a hard slider
tonight, borderline cutter at times. But he was outstanding." Francisco Rodriguez allowed a run in the ninth but closed
out the win for his 400th career save.
PHILS PHACTS:
- After giving up the Cabrera double, Jeremy Hellickson faced one over the minimum number of batters from that point
through the end of the fifth inning. He had six strikeouts during that
stretch. The Tigers jumped on him for two runs in the sixth.
- J.D. Martinez's sixth-inning chopper down the
third-base line seemed like an easy out until the hop ate up Franco at
third and sent the ball down the left-field line. The double put runners
on second and third with nobody out for Cabrera and Victor Martinez, who
drove in the runs to give Verlander an insurmountable lead. Phillies
manager Pete Mackanin said he thought it was a difficult play for Franco,
but it could have been a potential double-play ball, or at least keep a
runner out of scoring position. "He got to a certain spot, and he
stopped," Mackanin said. "He tried to snag it instead of taking
one more step toward it. I don't think he could have gotten in front of
it, but he could have gone through the ball instead of stopping and trying
to snag it."
- Cabrera's swinging strike on Hellickson's first-pitch slider in the
third was his first swing and miss since last Wednesday. He had swung 34
times since then with either a ball in play, a foul ball or, in one case,
a foul tip. Hellickson later finished off Cabrera for the reigning
American League batting champion's first strikeout since May 13.
NEXT
GAME:
Aaron Nola starts the series finale on Wednesday at
1:10 p.m. ET. Nola allowed a home run for the first time in more than a month
his last start against Atlanta -- a pair of them, actually. Despite that, he
still lasted seven innings for the seventh time in nine starts.
PHILS PHACTS:
Solid Outing Despite Loss – Jeremy Hellickson tied a season-long outing Tuesday
night in Detroit, going seven innings while allowing three runs on seven hits
in a 3-1 Phillies loss to the Tigers. After allowing an RBI
double by Miguel Cabrera in the first inning, Hellickson
settled into a groove, facing one over the minimum number of batters from that
point through the end of the fifth inning. He struck out six batters during
that span, not allowing another baserunner to reach scoring position until the
sixth. "I thought I was good tonight," Hellickson said. "I just
made a mistake to Cabrera that first inning. I was able to settle in a little
bit, I got some easy outs and kept the pitch count down." Hellickson gave
up two runs in the sixth, but recorded outs on the final five batters he faced.
He left the game having thrown 95 pitches, 63 for strikes. Phillies manager
Pete Mackanin said he thought Hellickson did a good job facing what he thinks
is the most dangerous lineup in baseball. "I won't say it's the best
lineup thus far, but I would say the most dangerous," Mackanin said early
on Tuesday. "Just look at the numbers, and it can be daunting." Mackanin
was happy with limiting the Tigers' offense to three runs. "Last night and
tonight, we were in both games, so I'm happy about that," he said.
"Not happy about the outcome, but we played them tough, especially with
their lineup." Hellickson, who walked one batter on the night, thought the
same as his manager. "It's a good lineup, with power, speed, a lot of good
averages," he said. "All you can do is try and make pitches, and keep
the ball on the ground." Hellickson responded to Cabrera's deep liner in
the first inning by striking him out in the third inning, warranting a thumbs
up and a helmet bounce from Cabrera. But the Tigers' slugger came back in the
sixth with a chopper to third base that was mishandled by Maikel Franco. "Like
I said, I made that mistake in the first inning, leaving it right over the
middle of the plate," Hellickson said, "and second and third, no outs
with him up again, in a 1-0 game, just trying to keep [the baserunners] both
out there, but that's tough with him at bat."
Today In Phils
History – Something you never want
to see happened to Phillies pitcher Bill Hubbell on this day in 1922 as he was
struck in the head with a batted ball suffering a skull fracture and concussion
as a result. At the end of the decade, in 1929, Homer Peel hit into a triple
play against Brooklyn exactly one week after Lefty O’Doul hit into a triple
play against the Dodgers. In 1941, Dodger Pete Reiser got his revenge against
Phillies pitcher Ike Pearson as he hit an inside the park grand slam in his
first plate appearance against the pitcher since he was beaned in April (Note
that in 2011 this play was used in the background of a scene from the movie
“Captain America”). 10 years later, the Phillies fared better against Willie
Mays who went 0-5 in his major league debut. While the Phillies made it all the
way to the World Series in 1983, they did have a few rough spots throughout the
season one of which was a steak of 42 2/3 innings without scoring a run which
ended on this day by a homerun by Gary Matthews. Speaking of homeruns, on this
day in 1990, Charlie Hayes hit a 3 run homerun to give the Phillies the win and
first place in the standings for the first time since 1984. They fell from the
top spot with a loss the following day. 5 years ago there was an interesting
bit of history as starting second baseman Wilson Valdez was called on to take
the mound in the 19th inning. He ended up being the first position
player to start the game in the field and earn the win on the mound since Babe
Ruth 90 years prior. Speaking of pitching, it was on this day 2 years ago (one
of the last great moments in a solid career) that the Dodgers’ Josh Beckett no
hit the Phillies. And, finally, I would like to wish a happy 50th
birthday to the most intense player in Phillies history, Dave Hollins!
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies are currently 25-21 this season putting them on pace to beat most
preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most
expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the
exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the
Phillies are 39-53-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom
half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a
77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!
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