Phillies Bats Return To Silence In South Florida

GAME RECAP: Marlins Silence Phillies 6-0

A couple of regulars returning from injury helped the Marlins finally have some answers for Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson. Marcell Ozuna and Justin Bour were back in the lineup, and the two contributed at the plate in Miami's 6-0 win over Philadelphia at Marlins Park on Wednesday night. Ozuna had a double and a single and scored twice, while Bour singled and had a productive out that helped set up a run in the second inning. Backed with some early support, Andrew Cashner tossed 5 1/3 strong innings and collected his first victory since being acquired by the Marlins from the Padres in late July. "It's a different feeling, for sure, and you forget what it looks like," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Bour and Ozuna returning. "J.B. has been out so long. It just changes things around." Bour was making his first start since July 2, when he sustained a right ankle sprain, and Ozuna had been out since Aug. 31 with a bruised left wrist. "Honestly, you can't ask for much better," Bour said. "I was able to go out there and put together some quality at-bats and just help the team." Martin Prado and Christian Yelich added back-to-back RBI doubles in the seventh inning to break open a six-run lead. The Marlins' 10th shutout of the season snapped their five-game losing streak and moved them closer to .500 (69-71) as they look to make a late charge and chip away in the National League Wild Card chase. Miami sits five games behind St. Louis for the second spot. Hellickson was 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA in four starts against the Marlins this year before he allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits with one strikeout in six innings. "He threw OK. Just wasn't as sharp as he has been most of the year," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. Ichiro Suzuki had two hits, giving him 3,021 in his MLB career, which moves him into 26th place all-time, ahead of Rafael Palmeiro (3,020), according to Elias Sports Bureau.

PHILS PHACTS: 

• Just like Tuesday night, the Phillies opened the game with their first two batters reaching base. However, that's where the similarities ended. While both scored Tuesday to help lift the Phils to a 4-3 win, this time both Cesar Hernandez, who singled, and Aaron Altherr, who reached on a fielder's choice, were stranded. The Phils entered Tuesday with only 46 runs scored in the first inning, the lowest total in the Major Leagues. "It's frustrating," Mackanin said. "We've been going through that for quite a while. We just need to be better at it. The categories in hitting, we're at the bottom: slugging, doubles, hits, runs. There's your story right there."
• Left-handed reliever Patrick Schuster made his Phillies debut in the seventh inning, facing three batters, two of them lefties. After walking the first batter he faced on four pitches, Schuster settled down to retire left-handed Dee Gordon and Ichiro. Getting out left-handed batters is likely the role Schuster will have in Philadelphia's bullpen. "He's funky," Mackanin said. "I asked [catcher A.J. Ellis] what it looked like from behind the plate. He said, '[Schuster] could be tough on lefties.' It boils down to throwing strikes. I'm happy I got to see him. Down the stretch, I'm going to try to see him a little bit more. We need a situational lefty."
• The Eastern League named Reading outfielder Dylan Cozens, the Phillies' No. 7 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, as the league MVP on Wednesday. The 22-year-old Cozens hit .276 with 40 homers and 125 RBIs. He also scored 106 runs and had a .591 slugging percentage. Cozens led all Minor League players in homers and RBIs this season, and is just the second Phillies Minor League player since 1963 to reach 40-plus home runs. Ryan Howard accomplished the feat with 46 homers in 2004. In addition, first baseman Rhys Hoskins was named the Eastern League Rookie of the Year, while Dusty Wathan earned Manager of the Year honors. Hoskins hit .281 with 38 homers and 116 RBIs.

NEXT GAME:

Alec Asher takes the mound in the opener of a four-game series at Washington on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. ET. Called up on Tuesday, Asher is making his first big league start of the season after going 0-6 with a 9.31 ERA in seven starts last season with the Phillies.

PHILS PHACTS:

Costly Mistakes – Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson had pretty much owned the Marlins' lineup until a 6-0 loss in Wednesday night's series finale at Marlins Park. Hellickson was 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA over four starts against Miami this season. He had allowed just 19 hits and six runs over 25 1/3 innings while striking out 17. But Wednesday was a different story. Hellickson gave up nine hits over six innings, allowing four runs (three earned). He struck out just one. The Marlins managed to salvage one of the three games in the series, scoring a run in each of the first two innings to put the pressure on a Phillies team struggling to score. In the first, Hellickson gave up a one-out triple to Ichiro Suzuki, who scored the first run of the game, and then yielded a leadoff double in the second inning to Marcell Ozuna, who also scored. "I made too many mistakes early in the count, especially the first couple of innings; one to Ichiro just a lazy changeup, and Ozuna the next inning, you can't give up extra-base hits to lead off innings," Hellickson said. In four previous starts in Miami, Hellickson was 0-0 with a 2.49 ERA, and over eight previous career starts, Hellickson was 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA against the Fish. He struck out 33 and walked 12 in 48 innings. "You've just got to battle," Hellickson said. "Not every game's going to go how you want it. You've got to just keep grinding, keep making good pitches. Tonight was an example of that." He yielded single runs in the fifth and sixth innings against the team with which he has somewhat of a history. "It's my fifth start against them [this year]," he said. "So I have an idea what I want to do, they have an idea of what I want to do. I just left too many balls up there early in the game." But the Phillies didn't offer up any help offensively. They were shut out for the ninth time this season, and fourth over their last 15 games.

A Little Rest – Maikel Franco was not in the Phillies' starting lineup on Wednesday night at Marlins Park. The 24-year-old slugging third baseman, a cornerstone of Philadelphia's rebuilding process, needed a break perhaps physically as well as mentally. Franco jammed his wrist swinging the bat during his second plate appearance in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Marlins. He didn't take batting practice before Wednesday's game, but remained available for pinch-hit duty, according to Phillies manager Pete Mackanin. It's the first game Franco has not started since late July. Andres Blanco, who was activated on Friday from the 15-day disabled list with a fractured left index finger, took Franco's place at third base. Blanco was originally placed on the DL on July 25 and hadn't played since. It marked Blanco's 29th start this season, and 10th at third base. He started 13 games at second base, five at shortstop and one at first base. "I'm just going to back off, just to let this settle down on his hand and to give him a blow, because he's obviously pressing, getting a little frustrated," Mackanin said of Franco's day off. Franco is 0-for-8 over the first two games of the road trip in Miami, and has gone hitless in five of his last eight games. Struggling during the recent stretch, Franco is hitting just .182 in his last 33 at-bats. He's still the power hitter the Phils are looking for at the hot corner. Franco leads the team with 22 homers, 73 RBIs, 44 extra-base hits and 212 total bases. He's the first Phillies third baseman to hit 20 homers in one season since Scott Rolen (25) in 2001. However, things have not been going well lately. Franco hasn't hit a home run since Aug. 18, and he has just one RBI in his last 14 games, with an extra-base hit in just one of those games.

Today In Phils History – Former Phillies Joe Oeschger stuck out 3 Phillies on 9 pitches in 1921 while with the Braves but the Phillies storm back in the 9^th with 8 runs to win the game. 5 years later, for the 3^rd time in his career, Cy Williams hit a two out game winning grand slam. In 1954, Richie Ashburn fouled off 14 full count pitches before earning the walk against the Reds. In 1963, Warren Spahn reached the 20 win mark in a win over the Phillies for the 13^th time in his career and, in the process, set the record for the oldest pitcher to reach the milestone (43). Juan Samuel hit his 7^th career leadoff homerun in 1987 setting a new franchise record. With his debut in 1996, Calvin Maduro became the 1^st native of Aruba to pitch in MLB. 2 years later, 3 different Phillies (Rico Brogna, Kevin Sefcik, and Bobby Estalella) hit 2 homeruns against the Mets with Marlon Anderson also going deep during the contest in his 1^st MLB at bat and setting a new team record for homeruns in a single game (7). The Phillies beat the nationals 5-3 in 2009 with all of their runs coming from solo homeruns to set a new franchise mark. 4 years later, Cole Hamels surrendered 2 hits over 8 innings with both being homeruns by the Braves Evan Gattis (the 1^st traveling a CBP record 486 feet). Other notable debuts on this day include Jason Grimsley (1989), Kim Batiste (1991), and Marlon Byrd (2002).

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 62-77 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 62-50-0 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.

Phillies Offense Goes South Against Sox

GAME RECAP: White Sox Wreck Phillies 9-1

Carlos Rodon has grown accustomed to winning ways. The southpaw went from May 23 to Aug. 11 without a victory, but factoring in his 6 2/3-inning shutout performance during a 9-1 trouncing of the Phillies on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field, the White Sox hurler has gone four straight starts without a setback. In those four starts, Rodon has yielded four earned runs on 19 hits over 24 2/3 innings, with 21 strikeouts and six walks. He gave up three hits over 109 pitches against the Phillies. "It's all about strike one and strike two. When you get ahead of guys and you've got good stuff, you can beat 'em," Rodon said. "You can cause more contact when you get ahead, you can just flip up there whatever you want when it's 1-2, 0-2. Omar [Narvaez] back there calling that game is huge. Just comfortable, got on a roll and everything worked out." Phillies rookie Jake Thompson, who entered with an 8.79 ERA, was hit early and often by the White Sox offense. The team scored one in the first on Adam Eaton's triple and Tim Anderson's groundout, added three in the third and three more in the fifth, including back-to-back homers from Jose Abreu and Justin Morneau. "I'm not used to this," Thompson said. "The issue is pretty evident. I'm not throwing strikes, and when I am throwing strikes, they're not good strikes. It's coming back to the drawing board and figuring it out a little bit." Philadelphia avoided the shutout when Freddy Galvis homered off of reliever Chris Beck with two outs in the seventh. Every White Sox starter but Todd Frazier had at least one hit, as the White Sox won a third straight game.

PHILS PHACTS: 

• Thompson is the No. 66 prospect in baseball according to MLBPipeline.com, but his first four starts have been a nightmare. He allowed seven runs in five innings against the White Sox. Thompson's 9.79 ERA is the second-highest in franchise history among pitchers making four starts to open a career. Only Mike Maddux is higher. He had a 9.98 ERA through his first four starts in 1986. "I don't really have the answer right now to fix it," Thompson said. "I feel I'm certainly a lot better than my performance has indicated."
• Galvis hit his 13th homer of the season, a towering shot to right field in the seventh inning to keep the Phillies from a second consecutive shutout. "We're not counting on Freddy to hit home runs for us, but he's got 13 now," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I feel like telling him to start hitting home runs. We keep telling him not to and he keeps hitting them."
• "How many guys do you see come to the big leagues at 22 years old and just flat-out dominate every time they go out? There's not very many. He's young. When you come up and you pitch so well all year and then you finally get your opportunity, you want to impress. It puts a lot on you. And as a kid, you've got to be able to control it, and it's tough, it's hard. It's hard to go through. It's something that's going to make him better when he does finally figure it out and overcomes some of the rough patches he's having." -- Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp, on Thompson.
• Thompson appeared to pick off Anderson at first base in the fifth, but first-base umpire John Tumpane called him safe. First baseman Tommy Joseph immediately signaled to the Phillies' bench to challenge the play. The replay official agreed with Joseph and overturned the call, crediting Thompson with a pickoff.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Jerad Eickhoff (8-12, 3.91 ERA) will be trying to straighten out a few things Wednesday night (8:10 ET) against the White Sox. He has been one of the team's most reliable starters this season, but he has a 5.60 ERA in three starts this month.

PHILS PHACTS:

Still Searching – Jake Thompson needs answers and he needs them badly. Right now, he is coming up empty. Thompson got hit hard again Wednesday night in a 9-1 loss to the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. He allowed seven runs in five innings as he fell to 1-3 with a 9.78 ERA through four big league starts. He is tied with Alec Asher for the second-highest ERA in franchise history for a pitcher who started his first four big league games. Only Mike Maddux fared worse. He posted a 9.98 ERA through four starts in 1986. "I don't really have the answer right now to fix it," Thompson said. "I feel I'm certainly a lot better than my performance has indicated." Certainly Thompson had been billed as much better than this, ranking as the Phillies' fifth-best prospect and No. 66 across baseball. A key piece in the Cole Hamels trade with Texas in July 2015, Thompson went 8-0 with a 1.21 ERA in his final 11 starts this year with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, solidifying his status as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. He struck out 42 and walked 18 in 74 1/3 innings with the IronPigs. But in 19 1/3 innings with the Phillies, he has allowed 22 hits, 21 runs, 13 walks and five home runs. He has struck out 13. He has retired the side in order just five times in the 20 innings he has started. He threw first-pitch strikes to just 11 of the 25 White Sox batters he faced. "I'm not used to this," Thompson said. "The issue is pretty evident. I'm not throwing strikes, and when I am throwing strikes, they're not good strikes. It's coming back to the drawing board and figuring it out a little bit." Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said he expects Thompson to remain in the rotation, adding that he needs to speak with general manager Matt Klentak about it. But Mackanin is concerned that if Thompson keeps pitching and struggling, he could lose his confidence, which could set him back. "He looks like a confident kid, but at some point it doesn't always mean he has that confidence just because he looks confident," Mackanin said. "You know, he's 22 years old and this is a big event in his life." Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp agrees. "How many guys do you see come to the big leagues at 22 years old and just flat-out dominate every time they go out?" he said. "There's not very many. He's young. It was his first time in Triple-A this year and he pitched really well, and now he's got a chance in the big leagues. I'm sure he feels like there's pressure. When you come up and you pitch so well all year and then you finally get your opportunity, you want to impress. It puts a lot on you. And as a kid, you've got to be able to control it, and it's tough, it's hard. It's hard to go through. It's something that's going to make him better when he does finally figure it out and overcomes some of the rough patches he's having."

Long Shot – Do not expect another round of Tebowmania in Philadelphia. But, the Phillies will have a scout at former college football star Tim Tebow's workout Aug. 30 in Los Angeles. Tebow, who failed to make the Eagles as a backup quarterback last summer, has not played baseball since his junior year of high school, in 2005. With NFL teams no longer interested in him, Tebow now hopes to pick up a bat and begin a professional baseball career. It would be stunning if the Phillies actually signed Tebow, who just turned 29. Their presence at his workout likely is a matter of due diligence.

Relief On The Way? – The Phillies are expected to promote a handful of players once the 25-man roster expands on Sept. 1.  But don't expect those promotions to come all at once. "We'll probably do callups in stages," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Field. "A few guys on the first just to make sure this team is covered, but not so many that we deplete the Double-A and Triple-A teams who are playing meaningful games. When their seasons end, that's another stage. But it's not going to be everybody arrives on the first." The Phillies could call up relievers like Luis Garcia, Dalier Hinojosa and Colton Murray on Sept. 1 to help the bullpen. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said Tuesday that he is looking for a couple more relievers to prevent Hector Neris, who leads the big leagues with 63 appearances, and Jeanmar Gomez from being overused. Right-hander Alec Asher seems likely to make an appearance in September. His 80-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs ends Sept. 5, the final day of the IronPigs' regular season. Asher is not eligible to compete in the Minor League postseason. In terms of prospects, catcher Jorge Alfaro and outfielder Roman Quinn already are on the 40-man roster, which helps their chances. They could be up once Double-A Reading's season is finished. Triple-A outfielder Nick Williams seemed like a smart bet at one point, but he has hit .192 with four home runs, 19 RBIs and a .551 OPS in 132 plate appearances since July 15. He is not on the 40-man roster. Triple-A shortstop J.P. Crawford, ranked as the club's top prospect, is not expected to be promoted. Infielder Andres Blanco will rejoin the team at some point. He is recovering from a broken left finger. First baseman Darin Ruf, right-hander David Buchanan and outfielders Cody Asche and Darnell Sweeney also are on the 40-man roster.

Today In Phils History – The Phillies and Cubs set a NL record in 1905 when it took 20 innings for the game to be decided with both pitchers going the distance in the Phillies loss. Pitcher George McQuillan was suspended in 1910 despite a winning record and sub 2.00 ERA by manager Red Dooin for being out of shape. Cy Williams hit for the cycle in a Phillies loss against the Pirates in 1922 winning him $100 courtesy of a Pirate sponsor after nearly breaking a clock beyond the right field wall. In 1979, the Phillies retired Richie Ashburn’s uniform number (1) before Steve Carltons complete game win over the Astros. 2 years later, the Phillies released John Vukovich. Today is also the day when Juan Samuel made his major league debut with the Phillies in 1983. 8 years later, in 1991, Mitch Williams picked up his 8^th win of the month tying the club record for pitchers and setting a new MLB record for relievers. In 2010, after Ryan Howard was ejected for flipping his bat following a strikeout in extra innings, Raul Ibanez moves to 1B and Roy Oswalt enters the game in LF where he makes a routine play but also, batting in the clean up spot, strikes out to end the game. 3 years later, the Phillies set a record for the longest game in team history after an 18 inning, 7 hour 14 minute marathon which saw two position players (Casper Wells and John McDonald) take the mound. 2 years ago, Jerome Williams picked up his 2^nd career RBI on a safety squeeze over a decade after collecting his 1^st setting a new MLB record for the longest span between RBI (4,000 days).

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 58-68 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 47-62-1 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.

Well, You Can’t Win Them All…

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 1^st 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 1^st 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 9^th), Pete Rose collected his 2,427^th 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 9^th 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 887^th 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 2^nd 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.

Phillies Split Series With Brewers

GAME RECAP: Phillies Dominate Brewers 8-1

Aaron Nola danced into and out of trouble for six of the busiest scoreless innings you'll see, and Jimmy Paredes and Cameron Rupp hit back-to-back home runs in the Phillies' biggest inning of the season. They thumped the Brewers on Sunday, 8-1, in the finale of a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park. The Brewers put a runner on base in each of Nola's six innings, including multiple runners with fewer than two outs in four of those frames. But Milwaukee went hitless with eight strikeouts in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position against Nola, who struck out nine overall to match his career high for the third time this season. He has nine straight quality starts, matching Madison Bumgarner for the longest such streak in the Majors this season. "I told the infielders I was gonna give them a 1-2-3 inning one time," Nola said. "It didn't happen. … I battled hard and kept the team in the game, which is the most important part." Maikel Franco, Paredes and Rupp all homered for the Phillies, Franco off struggling Brewers starter Wily Peralta and Paredes and Rupp after Peralta was replaced by Neil Ramirez in a five-run fifth. It marked the first time all season that the Phillies scored more than three runs in a single frame. "When a pitcher gets a ball up in the zone, we want to attack it," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Up until today, we haven't seen enough of that. Hopefully this is the start of something big for us."

PHILS PHACTS:

• The Phillies broke the game wide open as Paredes and Rupp went yard back-to-back in the fifth. The five runs turned a 3-0 game into 8-0 and are the most the Phils have scored in an inning this season -- almost two full runs more than their nine-inning average. Odubel Herrera led off the inning by diving safely into first base for one of his four hits. He scored on a Tommy Joseph double, which almost gave Philadelphia three straight dingers but after review was ruled a double due to fan interference. It was the first time the Phillies have hit back-to-back home runs since Aug. 22, 2015 and comes just one game after Philadelphia homered twice in the same inning for the first time this season. "We know we can do that, and we showed it," Rupp said. "Now we just have to be consistent with it. The bats are there. Hitting's contagious."
• Mackanin has said for weeks that he expects his young third baseman to heat up at the plate. After a day of rest Wednesday, it might be happening. Franco hit a solo shot to left in the third inning -- his second long ball since returning to the lineup. In the four games since he sat, Franco is 4-for-14 (.286), while scoring four runs and driving in three. "He still doesn't look like the same guy we saw early in the season or last year," Mackanin said. "Little by little, he's starting to relax a little bit and not get too big. … What he needs to do is not get big and strong. He needs to sneak up on the ball and be short and quick."
• Nola is one of only five starters this season to surrender at least eight hits but no runs, and only the second to do so in six or fewer innings. Cubs lefty Jon Lesterwas the other, keeping the Pirates at bay on May 4. And Lester and Nola are among the four pitchers to allow 10 or more batters to reach safely, but allow no runs. Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson is on the latter list thanks to a five-hit, four-walk outing against the Cubs that included a hit batter.
• Franco has hit five of his 10 home runs this season against the Brewers. That's the highest total for a Brewers opponent in 2016; the Reds' Adam Duvall and Brandon Phillips have four home runs apiece at Milwaukee's expense.
• For a few minutes, it appeared Joseph was the Phillie who broke the game open with a three-run home run during the big fifth, but his big fly was overturned after a review by the umpiring crew, who determined that a fan had reached over the fence in right field and interfered with the path of the baseball. Joseph settled for an RBI double, and Parades followed with a big blast that couldn't be overturned.

NEXT GAME:

Philadelphia hosts the Cubs for three games at Citizens Bank Park, beginning Monday at 7:05 ET. The first game of the series will feature a pair of southpaws, with Adam Morgan (1-4, 7.07) starting for the Phils, opposing the Cubs' Jon Lester (6-3, 2.29).

PHILS PHACTS:

Maturing On The Mound – For Aaron Nola, Sunday's start was unlike any he's ever had. In an 8-1 win over the Brewers, Nola finished with a stat line that only Cubs left-hander Jon Lester has matched this season. He became the second pitcher to allow at least eight hits but no runs in six or fewer innings. Nola also walked two. But no Brewers came around to score on the 23-year-old righty. "He struck out the side in the first after he walked the leadoff hitter and gave up a hit," catcher Cameron Rupp said. "And then he did the same thing again and again and again and again." Not quite, but close. Nola only struck out the side once, but he finished with nine strikeouts. The Brewers had their leadoff hitter reach in two of the first three innings. They had a runner on base every inning against Nola. "I told the infielders I was gonna give them a 1-2-3 inning one time," Nola said. He didn't, but Nola still was impressive -- even if it didn't do any favors for his WHIP, which went up from 0.93 to 1.03. He'd previously ranked fourth in baseball in the department but fell out of the top 10 after Sunday's performance. It's strange to see a pitcher go from hittable to dominant with the snap of a finger, but Nola accomplished that on Sunday. Some of the Brewers' hits came on mistake pitches, Nola said, but others were just good as pitches put in play. The right-hander bouncing back from each hit not to allow a run speaks to his poise on the mound. "Nothing fazes him out there," Rupp said. "He's got a demeanor that he just knows he's going to get them out." "He just never loses his composure," manager Pete Mackanin said. "First and second, one out. Second and third with two outs. You would never detect any panic or fear in him." By putting runners on base each inning, Nola elevated his pitch count early. Mackanin -- in his one critic of his starting pitcher -- said he'd have liked to see Nola go one more inning, but "he had a few too many pitches." Still, Nola made it through six shutout innings. That was good enough for him to record his ninth straight quality start and his 10th in 12 starts this season. Only Clayton Kershaw has more.

Offensive Awakening – At a glance, it would be easy to mistake this Phillies team for its predecessors 40 year ago on Sunday. With Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski in the house at Citizens Bank Park, the Phils broke out their throwback threads. Even 1976's 101-win team would have had difficulty keeping up with the offense from the 2016 incarnation during Sunday's 8-1win over the Brewers. There was so much production up and down the lineup card that manager Pete Mackanin had to bring a cheat sheet to the podium for his postgame news conference. "So I wouldn't forget anybody," Mackanin joked. And he didn't. Mackanin noted home runs from Cameron Rupp, Jimmy Paredes and Maikel Franco. He praised Odubel Herrera's 4-for-5 day -- the second four-hit game of his career. He also didn't forget Tommy Joseph's near-home run. After intentionally walking Franco to get to Joseph in the fifth inning, the 24-year-old first baseman put a 1-2 fastball from Brewers starter Wily Peralta over the right field wall. But it wasn't all his doing. Replay showed a fan reaching over the wall, negating the homer and putting Joseph at second and Herrera across the plate, with the first of five runs the Phillies scored in the frame. No review was necessary to determine if Paredes had left the yard four pitches later. His mammoth shot to right landed nearly 20 rows back. The three-run homer blew the game open, but Rupp wanted to leave his mark, as well. He put a 93-mph fastball over the left-field wall for an even more monstrous blast, giving the Phillies their fifth run of the inning and eighth of the game. "We know we can do that, and we showed it," Rupp said. "Now we just have to be consistent with it. The bats are there. Hitting's contagious." The only position player who started Sunday's game to not get a hit was Freddy Galvis, but even he contributed to the onslaught. "Freddy didn't get any hits, but in the first inning, he got that run in from third base, then he bunted that guy to third," Mackanin said. "Those little things lead to runs, and I just wanted to give him a shout out for that." It was the first time the Phillies had hit back-to-back bombs since Aug. 22, 2015, when Aaron Altherr and Darin Ruf did so in a 4-2 win over the Marlins. The five runs in the fifth were the most the Phillies had scored in an inning all season, and the eight total are tied for the second-highest output. The 1976 squad ranked second in baseball -- behind only Cincinnati's Big Red Machine -- with 4.75 runs per game. The 2016 version has had a harder time coming up with offense. By scoring five runs in the fifth, they outscored their full-game output for 45 of the Phillies' 54 games. Mackanin said he would like to establish a consistent lineup, or at least middle of the order. Consistency would help spread the already contagious offense. Back on the 1976 team, of their 162 games, Schmidt hit third in 139 of them and Luzinski fourth in 143. Eight different players have already split time in the two spots on the 2016 squad.

Today In Phils History – We start in 1928 when Cy Williams hit his second homerun in as many pinch hit at bats dating back to June 2. The next decade, in 1937, down by 6 the Phillies delayed the game until it was called due to the 7pm curfew and received the loss and a fine of $100 to manager Jimmie Wilson for their dubious efforts. 2 years later the Phillies released Chuck Klein who, after finishing the season with Pittsburgh, would return to the Phillies in 1940. 20 years after Klein’s release, the Phillies parted ways with another power hitter, Willie Jones. In 1962, the Phillies swept a double header against the Mets giving the new franchise a major league record 17^th consecutive loss. 3 years later, the Phillie needed every one of Johnny Callison’s 3 homers in a 10-9 win over the Cubs. Another 2 years passed and the Phillies traded future Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Uecker to Atlanta. A decade after the Mets debacle, the Phillies nearly matched their futility as, in the midst of a streak of 18 losses in 19 games, they tried to change their luck with "Turn it Around Day" but, despite the quirkiness, lost the game anyway. And finally, in 1990, as Ethan Martin was celebrating his 1^st birthday, Von Hayes was collecting 5 walks tying the franchise and NL single game record.  

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 28-29 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 52-56-1 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!