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!

Good Start By Harang, Bad Result By Phillies

GAME RECAP: Nationals Beat Phillies 4-1

Bryce Harper continues to be a game-changer for the Nationals as he drove in two runs in a 4-1 victory over the Phillies on Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park. The Nationals improved their record to 26-18. "Being able to get the W was huge," Harper said. "What we did today to get that W -- going on the road right now -- I'm just glad we ended it on a good note in this homestand." Left-hander Gio Gonzalez had a better outing than he did against the Yankees earlier in the week. He picked up his fourth victory of the season by allowing a run in 6 1/3 innings and striking out seven. "I just wanted to keep from [going] up in the strike zone, work my way down in the strike zone," Gonzalez said. "The only time I wanted to get up was when I wanted them to chase out of the strike zone, but again, like I said, [Jose] Lobaton did a great job mixing me up and keeping me in the game." Phillies right-hander Aaron Harang didn't pitch badly, allowing two runs in six innings. But it wasn't enough, as the Phillies saw their record drop to 19-27.

OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:

• Harang ran his streak of scoreless innings to 17 before the Nationals pushed a run across in the fourth, moments after Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the top of the frame. Washington opened an inning with an extra-base hit three times. Harang avoided damage in the first, but Clint Robinson scored after his fourth inning double and Yunel Escobar came home for a 2-1 lead following a triple in the fifth. Harper's comebacker in the first whacked Harang on his right hip, but he hung around to throw six innings, allowing two runs and seven hits. "I thought Harang did a nice job," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "It wasn't his best command. ... Limited the damage. He gave us a quality start and did a good job. We just came up short on the offensive side of things."
• Other than Francoeur's two-out, RBI single in the fourth, the Phillies labored at the plate with runners in scoring position, finishing 1-for-9 overall. Batting after Francouer in the fourth, Cesar Hernandez struck out with runners at second and third base. One-out doubles in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings ultimately led nowhere. "We knew we would be up for a challenge coming in here," Harang said. "They've been playing us tough all season. Yeah, it stinks to lose a game like that, but obviously they were just a little bit ahead of us."

NEXT GAME:

Philadelphia's three-city road swing ends with three games in New York. Severino Gonzalez hopes to continue his run of quality outings against the Mets. Gonzalez (2-1, 7.11 ERA) is 2-0 with 2.70 ERA over his last two big league starts, including a 4-2 victory at Colorado on Wednesday. He will face Bartolo Colon (6-3, 4.85) Monday with first pitch set for 1:10 p.m. ET. The Phillies are 1-5 against the Mets this season.

PHILS PHACTS:

Harang Continues Strong Month – Aaron Harang battled more than he dominated in Sunday's series finale against the Washington Nationals. He also never broke, continuing a personal stretch of nothing but quality starts in May. The right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits over six innings. In five starts this month, he's given up five runs over 33 innings. That works out to a microscopic 1.36 ERA. But because the Phillies bats came up short, Harang didn't rack up a victory. In fact, he lost for the second time in four starts. This time he was outdueled by Gio Gonzalez in Philadelphia's 4-1 loss. The Phillies lost two of three in the series. "We knew we would be up for a challenge coming in here," Harang said. "They've been playing us tough all season. Yeah, it stinks to lose a game like that, but obviously they were just a little bit ahead of us." The setback evened Harang record at 4-4. The two runs upped his ERA to 1.93. Harang did not allow an earned run in either of his previous two starts, coming away with a win and a no-decision. He ran his streak of scoreless innings to 17 before the Nationals pushed a run across in the fourth. They also tallied one in the fifth before adding two insurance runs against the Phillies' bullpen in the seventh. It could have been worse. Washington had at least one runner on in each of the first five innings. "I thought Harang did a nice job," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "It wasn't his best command, but he pitched well with some men on base and left some baserunners out there. Limited the damage. He gave us a quality start and did a good job. We just came up short on the offensive side of things." Washington opened an inning with an extra-base hit three times. Harang avoided damage in the first following Denard Span's leadoff double, though he couldn't totally evade Bryce Harper's comebacker that deflected off the pitcher's glove before striking him in the hip. Harper reached, putting two runners on, but Harang struck out Ryan Zimmerman to end the threat. Harang couldn't escape unscathed in the fourth and fifth. Clint Robinson scored on Jose Lobaton's single after opening the inning with a double. Never a good time to surrender a run, but this one curtailed any possible momentum after the Phillies scored in the top of the inning. Jeff Francouer's RBI single put Philadelphia up 1-0. Harang also avoided a big number in the inning. He immediately walked Danny Espinosa and faced two runners in scoring position following a sacrifice bunt by Gonzalez. Rather than give in, he induced ground-ball outs from Span and Ian Desmond. "I was able to make some big pitches when I really needed to," he noted. Yunel Escobar led off the fifth with a triple. He scored on Harper's RBI grounder for a 2-1 lead. Philadelphia had their own chances, but finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The Phillies seemingly always have a chance to win with Harang on the mound. "The big thing is trying to give us a chance to win," he said of his approach. "There is only so much I can do. Once I release the ball, it's out of my control unless the ball is hit back to me or I'm in the play somehow."

When A Plan Backfires – Based on one set of numbers, Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg's decision made sense. There were two outs and a runner at third in the seventh. Philadelphia already trailed Washington, 2-1. Left-handed reliever Jake Diekman was ready in the bullpen. He had retired the lefty-swinging batter due up seven of eight times previously. That next batter? He goes by the name of Bryce Harper, otherwise known as the National League leader in home runs. Based on what the entire baseball world witnessed over the last month, find any excuse to avoid pitching to the feared slugger when possible. In this case, Sandberg could have stuck with right-hander Justin De Fratus, who helped put his manager in this spot by surrendering Denard Span's leadoff double. Span took third on a sacrifice bunt, but remained there after De Fratus induced Yunel Escobar's ground out. That left the option of intentionally walking Harper with first base open and having De Fratus face Ryan Zimmerman. "There were some thoughts about all that," Sandberg said postgame. There was surely some intense thinking about Harper's prowess and Diekman's struggles. The reliever allowed at least one run and three total in consecutive appearances earlier in the week at Colorado. "He's our late-inning, left-handed guy," Sandberg stated. Regardless, the manager called for Diekman. With a 1-1 count, the lefty threw a pitch inside as desired. Harper swung, but this time, the ball didn't soar out of the park. Instead, it softly found a patch of grass in left field, allowing Harper to reach and Span to score. Harper drove in two of Washington's runs in their 4-1 win. "It means a lot," Diekman said of Sandberg's continued faith in him during late innings. "You either pitch through it or you're just going to sit down there. It shows he has a lot of confidence in me, which is good. I have a lot of confidence in myself. It just feels like the balls are finding holes right now." Diekman compounded the problem by allowing Harper to score on Ryan Zimmerman's double. His ERA rose to 8.04 after allowing one run and recording only one out. Nevertheless, it was the at-bat with Harper that received primary focus postgame. When the idea of that alternate plan was mentioned, Diekman responded to a reporter, "Do you know my numbers against Harper? 1-for-8, right? I had faith in myself to get him out." The head-to-head numbers provided reason for hope. But things haven't been going Diekman's way of late. "I feel that way," Diekman said of the tough breaks. "You just have to execute pitches better, I guess."

Major Injury Updates In The Minors – Catcher prospect Tommy Joseph remains "sidelined indefinitely," and will be doing vestibular rehabbing for a recent concussion, the Phillies announced on Sunday. The vestibular system, located in the inner ear, helps contribute to one's sense of balance and coordination. Injuries, including multiple concussions, have plagued Joseph, 23, in recent seasons. Acquired in 2012 from San Francisco as part of the return for outfielder Hunter Pence, he played in 63 games combined between 2013-14. Joseph is batting .123 in 20 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season. Right-hander Ethan Martin, who has yet to play in 2015, is scheduled to pitch live batting practice on Monday. The right-hander has been sidelined since April 8 with right shoulder inflammation. Barring any setback, Martin would participate in extended spring training starting on May 30. Martin, a first-round selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008, made 15 appearances including eight starts with the Phillies in 2013, finishing 2-5 with a 6.08 ERA. He pitched four innings for Philadelphia in 2014.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now near the bottom of the NL east at 19-27. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and performance this spring, don’t expect their competitive place in the standings to last. All time, the Phillies are 39-53-0 on this day.