Verlander Dominates Phillies

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 19^th 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 50^th 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!

Phillies Outslugged by Miggy And The Tigers

GAME RECAP: Tigers Tag Phillies 5-4

On a night when the Tigers and Phillies combined for six solo home runs, two of them from Miguel Cabrera, Detroit pulled ahead on a Victor Martinez seventh-inning single that scored Cabrera for a 5-4 victory Monday at Comerica Park. The Tigers' seventh win in eight games moved them back to .500 (22-22) for the first time since May 6. Cabrera's second two-homer game in four days included an opposite-field loft in the third inning and a drive to left in the fifth, both of which tied the game. Both came off Phillies starter Vince Velasquez, who gave up as many home runs in four-plus innings (three) as he had all season entering the night. "He's a great pitcher," said J.D. Martinez, who went back-to-back with Cabrera in the fifth. "I think it was, in a way, bad timing for him, because he came in here, we're hitting, and we just faced [the Rays' Chris] Archer and [Matt] Andriese. We've faced a lot of similar pitchers to him. So I think it was just a rough time for him to come in here." Velasquez said he did not do a good job of using his secondary pitches, which allowed Tigers hitters to take him deep. He also said he needed to challenge hitters inside more effectively. "You can't pitch around it, even if your secondary pitches aren't working," Velasquez said. "You can use it to protect your fastball, but you've got to pitch inside to challenge hitters." Cabrera's double to right-center off Colton Murray (0-1) in the seventh stayed in the park, but put him in scoring position for Martinez, who lined a single into right field. Maikel Franco and Tommy Joseph homered for Philadelphia, the latter to tie the game at 4.

PHILS PHACTS:

• Franco hadn't homered in his previous 11 games, but his homer to lead off the fourth off Tigers starter Mike Pelfrey was a no-doubter to left-center, giving him eight home runs on the season. Franco also singled in the first inning.
• Odubel Herrera led off the game with a 14-pitch at-bat against Mike Pelfrey, including nine foul balls, before lacing a ground ball through the middle for a single. A double play erased Herrera two pitches later, but the hit set the tone on a night when Herrera had three hits off Pelfrey, including an RBI single in the third inning and a liner to center in the fifth. Despite the big night at the plate, Herrera was benched after he failed to run out a ground ball back to the pitcher in the seventh inning. "He didn't run," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "One of the ingredients to our success, to this point, is the fact that these guys play with energy, they play hard. We're training them, basically, to play the game the right way, and not running is not the right way."
• The Phillies challenged an inning-ending double play in the eighth, arguing Freddy Galvis beat shortstop Jose Iglesias' throw to first. After further review, Galvis' foot hit the bag ahead of Cabrera getting the ball at first. The call was overturned, extending the inning, but Mark Lowe struck out Tyler Goeddel to end the threat.
• The Phillies signed Cuban outfielder Osmel Aguila to a Minor League contract. He has reported to extended Spring Training in Clearwater, Fla. Aguila had a .280 batting average and 33 home runs during six seasons in Cuba.
• Cabrera's double was the 500th of his career, making him the 62nd Major League player to reach the mark. Monday was also his 20th career game going 3-for-3 or better with a home run. Only Barry Bonds (23) and Lou Gehrig (21) have more such games in Major League history.

NEXT GAME:

Jeremy Hellickson (4-2, 3.99 ERA) looks for his third straight win when he takes the mound Tuesday night at Comerica Park in a 7:10 p.m. ET start. The former Tampa Bay Rays hurler owns a 1.86 ERA in five career starts against Detroit.

PHILS PHACTS:

Lesson Learned – Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera led off Monday's game against the Tigers with a 14-pitch at-bat against Mike Pelfrey, which ended with a base hit. He went on to get hits in his next two trips to the plate, starting his night 3-for-3. But Herrera's solid start to the night turned sour when he didn't hustle down the line on a ground ball hit back to the pitcher in the seventh inning. Manager Pete Mackanin pulled Herrera from the game, and the Phillies went on to lose, 5-4. Mackanin was willing to make a sacrifice to send a message to his team. "One of the ingredients to our success, to this point, is the fact that these guys play with energy, they play hard," Mackanin said. "We're training them, basically, to play the game the right way, and not running is not the right way. It's more important for me to set that tone than to take our best hitter out of the lineup." Mackanin said Herrera knew right away he had made a mistake. As he was approaching Herrera, veteran Ryan Howard was walking up to him to send him the same message. "You've got to keep going. I know it's not the at-bat he wanted, or whatever, but look at me, I'm still grinding," Howard said. "You never know on a ball like that, he might mess up because you're running hard." Mackanin said Herrera has had a bit of an issue with similar situations throughout the season. "I've seen it in the past, and it's been trickling in, and I just didn't like it, and I just made the decision," the manager said. Herrera will be in Tuesday's starting lineup, Mackanin said.

Vying For Playing Time – Tommy Joseph helped his case for the Phillies' starting first-base job on Monday night. The rookie went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a double in the Phillies' 5-4 loss to the Tigers. Joseph has been splitting time with Ryan Howard since being called up earlier this month. With the Phils at Comerica Park for an Interleague series, Joseph got the nod at first base Monday, while Howard started at designated hitter. That is the expected lineup throughout the three-game series. Joseph hit a game-tying shot to left field in the sixth inning off Tigers starter Mike Pelfrey. Howard went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. The veteran slugger is now hitting .156 on the season. Manager Pete Mackanin said he is going to look at the first-base position one week at a time, but he said it is possible that Joseph may earn the starting job at some point in the future. "At some point, it may come to that, but I wouldn't say it's imminent," Mackanin said. The 24-year-old said he's not focused on getting the starting role, but just wants to make an impact as he takes the opportunity to start his Major League career. "Any time you get the opportunity to play, you're also expected to produce," Joseph said. "Especially with as well as this ballclub had been playing when I got called up. There's no time to mess around, and you can see it with everybody on this team. Everybody wants to win. I'm just trying to follow that lead." Joseph said it was a good feeling to hit his home run in the sixth following the Tigers' three-homer fifth inning. "Anything I can do to contribute is great," Joseph said. "It was just a 2-2 slider that stayed in the middle of the plate."

Today In Phils History – The Phillies seemed to have been on the wrong side of history on this day as they first made baseball history when they lost the first night game in the major leagues to the Reds in 1935. Dodger Pee Wee Reese set an NL record by drawing walk in his ninth straight game in 1952. And, finally, Mariano Rivera made his last regular season appearance against the Phillies on this day in 2009 when he threw a scoreless 19^th inning against them at Yankees Stadium… a legend in his own right, he was also the last player the Phillies would ever face who wore the number 42. On the flip side of franchise history is the fact that Phillies stalwart, Pat “The Bat” Burrell made his debut with the team on this day in 2000.  

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 25-20 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 40-61-0 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!