GAME
RECAP: Giants Outlast Phillies 3-2
Denard Span clapped his hands once in a brief
display of celebration after slapping an eighth-inning single up the middle. As
he would explain, he was pleased with being able to connect with a pitch
despite being fooled. Two innings later, Span wasn't fooled at all, and what he
proceeded to do merited an ovation. Span christened Thursday's 10th inning with
a leadoff homer that lifted the Giants over the Phillies, 3-2. Having weathered
a series of nagging injuries this season, Span went 7-for-15 with four runs
scored in three games against the Phillies. He's also batting .347 (26-for-75)
in his last 19 games. "I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I just
want to try to build off of this," said Span, who broke a 2-2 tie against
Phillies reliever Severino Gonzalez (0-2) with his fifth homer of the
season. The outcome enabled the National League West-leading Giants to avoid
being administered a three-game sweep by the Phillies, who mustered four hits
off starter Matt Moore and five relievers. "I don't
know, we just couldn't solve him for whatever reason," Phillies manager
Pete Mackanin said of Moore. "I thought we were going to after that first
inning. … He kept pounding the strike zone. He pitched outside and inside. He
kept mixing it up, threw some curveballs and changeups." Span also
accounted for the Giants' first two runs by singling and scoring in the first
inning and on a sacrifice fly in the fifth. The Phillies kept pace, as Aaron Altherr doubled
home Cesar Hernandez in the first inning, before Freddy Galvis'
bases-loaded fielder's-choice grounder delivered their second run in the sixth.
PHILS PHACTS:
- It didn't
take a crystal ball to see the foreshadowing of another short start from
Velasquez after the 24-year-old righty needed 28 pitches to make it
through the first inning. He joined Zach
Eflin and Phil
Klein in
not making it past the fifth inning against the Giants. Although Velasquez
pitched well, allowing only two runs on three hits and striking out six,
the Phillies only had one fresh relief arm and could have used a day of
rest with six more to play until an off-day. Velasquez hasn't pitched past
the sixth inning in all but two starts this season. "It was tough. I had to push
myself and at least get to five innings," Velasquez said. "So
I've got to work on some things in the bullpen, utilizing my two-seam,
locating my two-seam. My secondary pitches are just kind of brutal right
now. So I've got to sharpen up a lot of stuff before my next start."
- Thanks to three straight starts of five innings or fewer, the
Phillies bullpen has had plenty of chances to shine this series. After Luis Garcia allowed two runs in the sixth inning of Tuesday's game,
no Phillies reliever allowed a run until Gonzalez gifted a fastball over
the plate to Span that landed in the right-field seats to give the Giants
a decisive lead. In Wednesday's 12-inning affair, Phillies relievers
pitched seven innings of scoreless baseball in a streak of 14 innings
without allowing a run. A depleted 'pen added four more scoreless innings
Thursday before Gonzalez's fateful fastball.
- Mackanin
announced after the game that the Phillies top
pitching prospect Jake Thompson will make his Major League debut
against the Padres on Saturday at Petco Park. Thompson is ranked by
MLBPipeline.com as the No.
70 prospect in baseball. In 21
starts for Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season, the 22-year-old
right-hander is 11-5 with a 2.50 ERA. The Phillies also optioned Elvis Araujo back to Triple-A, though not to
create room for Thompson. A corresponding move will be announced before
his start Saturday. Taking Araujo's place will be closer Jeanmar Gomez,
returning from the paternity list.
- After
Velasquez issued his second free pass of the day to Pagan in the third,
the Giants left fielder tried to swipe second base as Hunter
Pence struck
out swinging. At first glance, the Giants had narrowly avoided a
strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play. But the Phillies challenged,
the call was overturned and Pagan was ruled out at second to end the
inning. The review took 1 minute, 14 seconds and was Mackanin's 18th
successful challenge on 31 attempts. In the seventh inning, the Giants
challenged a ruling which declared that Altherr was safe as he dove into
first base on a pickoff attempt. A video review confirmed that the call on
the field stands.
- Cesar Hernandez and Tommy Joseph were the Phillies'
best hitters during the month of July. The two combined to hit .331
(54-for-163) during the month with six doubles, two triples and six home
runs.
- Maikel Franco hasn't homered in the five games he's
played in Petco Park, going just 1-for-20 (.050) with a double in San
Diego in his career.
- Wil Myers, who has cooled off since his torrid June,
has hit .364/.364/1.000 in 11 at-bats vs. Hellickson, including two home
runs.
NEXT
GAME:
Jeremy Hellickson
makes his first start for the Phillies since Monday's non-waiver Trade
Deadline, matching up with San Diego's Christian Friedrich on Friday. Hellickson's
name was all over the trade market with many teams searching for starting
pitchers, but Philadelphia ended up holding onto the 29-year-old righty, who
has posted a 3.70 ERA in 131 1/3 innings this season. In his past seven starts,
Hellickson has 2.27 ERA with 28 strikeouts and six walks. The Phillies are 6-1
in those games. Friedrich, meanwhile, is coming off of his best start in more
than a month. He limited the Reds to just one run over six innings thanks to a
lively fastball and good spin on his breaking ball. "I thought he was as
good as he's been since he's been with us," Padres manager Andy Green said
about his outing.
PHILS PHACTS:
Looking For Depth – After
using his bullpen for seven innings on Wednesday and four on Tuesday, Phillies
manager Pete Mackanin was counting on a little help in Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Giants from Vince
Velasquez --
the only starter of the past three games to open the season in the Phillies'
rotation. But Velasquez lasted no longer than his two predecessors, Zach
Eflin on
Tuesday and Phil
Klein on
Wednesday, needing 93 pitches to make it through five innings. Velasquez's five
were better than Eflin or Klein's, allowing only two runs compared to six and
four, respectively. But another inefficient outing from Velasquez again put the
weight on the shoulders of a beleaguered bullpen. "It was tough. I had to
push myself and at least get to five innings," Velasquez said. "We
used a lot of pitchers last night, and starting out with [28] pitches in the
first inning doesn't help. So I just had to make my pitches and manage to get
through five." Nearing the end of his start, Mackanin and head trainer
Scott Sheridan paid Velasquez a visit on the mound to check a blister on his
middle finger. Mackanin said if not for the blister, Velasquez would have
possibly stayed in longer than five innings, likely to take the load off a
depleted bullpen, as Velasquez was already at 93 pitches. Even the supposed
fresh arms in the 'pen weren't so. The two relievers called up the last two
days, Michael
Mariot and Elvis
Araujo, had each pitched for Triple-A Lehigh Valley the
day prior to getting the call. Severino
Gonzalez, the one reliever who had a day or more of rest,
was the one to serve up Denard
Span's go-ahead solo home run in the 10th. For Velasquez,
it is becoming all too much of a trend to not make it deep in games. Only twice
this season has he made it past the sixth inning -- his 16-strikeout shutout of
the Padres in his second start with the Phillies and a seven-inning, one-run
performance in his first start out of the All-Star break. Take out those, and
also the start he left injured after a third of an inning, and Velasquez is
averaging just over 5 1/3 innings per start this season. "He is a power
pitcher, but the thing I like about him is he uses all of his pitches,"
Mackanin said. "He uses two-seamers, he'll throw his changeup, he'll mix
in his breaking ball. And I think it is tough for him because he can blow
people away with 95-plus. I think he has a tendency to try to pitch too much
instead of trying to establish that fastball early." Velasquez next faces
his hometown team, the Dodgers, in his hometown of Los Angeles. He has walked
at least two in each of his last six starts, including three Thursday. "I'd
like to minimize my walks," Velasquez said. "I know I am probably
leading the team in walks right now, which is kind of bad, actually really bad.
"So I've got to work on some things in the bullpen, utilizing my two-seam,
locating my two-seam. My secondary pitches are just kind of brutal right now.
So I've got to sharpen up a lot of stuff before my next start because the
Dodgers are an ecstatic team. Those guys just rake." But at only 24 years old
and in his first full season in a Major League rotation, Velasquez's inability
to pitch deep into games is only disappointing, not concerning, to Mackanin. "He's
pitching very well," Mackanin said. "But he's just not locating as
well as he's going to in the future."
Debut Scheduled – Phillies
manager Pete Mackanin put an end to the speculation. The organization's top
pitching prospect, Jake Thompson, will
make his Major League debut on Saturday in San Diego, the skipper announced
after the Phillies' 3-2 loss to the Giants on Thursday. Starting
Saturday, Thompson won't slot into Aaron Nola's
temporarily vacated rotation spot. Mackanin said that the debut date is to give
other starters extra rest but that pitching coach Bob McClure is who determines
the rotation order. "I know he's got Major League stuff, and I'm anxious
to see him perform. We'll find out Saturday," Mackanin said. "I don't
know what to expect. Eflin had a shaky debut but we really like him, obviously.
So we're anxious to see him." The Phillies also optioned Elvis Araujo back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley
following Thursday's game to accommodate Jeanmar Gomez's
return from the paternity list. A corresponding move to make room on the 25-man
roster for Thompson will be announced prior to his start on Saturday. The
Phillies are only carrying four starters on the 25-man roster, so an extra
bullpen arm will likely be sent down. In his last seven starts at Triple-A,
Thompson has allowed more than one run in only one of them -- a five-run blip
on an otherwise dominant statline. In 21 starts with Lehigh Valley this season,
the 22-year-old right-hander is 11-5 with a 2.50 ERA. In addition to being
ranked as the Phillies' top pitching prospect by MLBPipeline.com, Thompson is
the club's No. 5 overall prospect and ranked as the No. 70 prospect in baseball.
Today
In Phils History – In 1921, the Phillies lost (to the Pirates) the 1st
MLB game ever covered by a play by play announcer as Harold Arlin called the
game for KDKA out of Pittsburgh. 6 years later, Cy Williams hit for the cycle
in 4 at bats against Pittsburgh. In 1975, the Phillies started a game against
the Cubs with the 1st 8 batters hitting safely against Bill Bonham
and finished the inning with 10 runs on 10 hits including 2 homeruns (the won
the game 13-5). That same day the Phillies acquired John Vukovich from the Reds.
4 years later, during a loss to the Pirates (John Milner hit a grand slam off
Tug McGraw in the 9th), Pete Rose collected his 2,427th
single breaking Honus Wagner’s NL record. In 1987, during a blowout loss to the
Mets, OF Glenn Wilson durned in the best pitching performance of the night for
the Phillies when he completed the 9th inning without surrendering a
hit or walk while striking out a batter. In 2000, the Phillies bid farewell to
Mickey Morandini as they traded him to Toronto. 5 years later, Bob Boone was
inducted in the Phillies Wall of Fame. Finally, 2 years ago, Ryan Howard, Chase
Utley, and Jimmy Rollins started in their 887th career game together
setting a new MLB record for games started by a 1B/2B/SS combo (the Dodgers’
Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, and Bill Russell previously held the record). In the
same game, Antonio Bastardo struck out 6 in 2 innings of work (7 batters faced)
for the 2nd time that season.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies are currently 50-60 this season putting them on pace to beat most
preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 51-48-0 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.
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