Phillies May Have To Bring Back “Duck And Cover” Drills

GAME RECAP: Pirates Pillage Phillies 7-4

With two hit batsmen, three walks and five stolen bases allowed in three-plus innings, it's safe to say Pirates rookie Tyler Glasnow struggled in his home debut. The Bucs' offense compensated, erupting for a five-run fifth inning and holding on to beat the Phillies, 7-4, on Saturday. Down, 3-2, in the fifth inning, a single by Jordy Mercer and back-to-back Aaron Nola walks to pinch-hitter Matt Joyce and John Jaso loaded the bases. Gregory Polanco delivered a go-ahead two-run single, David Freese followed with a two-run single of his own, and a sacrifice fly by catcher Francisco Cervelli made it 7-3. "We saw really good at-bats, guys working to get on base," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of the fifth inning. "Just good quality at-bats." The Pirates improved to 7-1 against the Phillies at PNC Park since 2014. Glasnow was pulled in the fourth inning due to what the Pirates called right shoulder discomfort, but the bullpen limited the Phillies to two runs in the final six innings. Pittsburgh placed the rookie on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. Nola surrendered six earned runs on six hits in four-plus innings before being pulled in favor of the recently recalled Severino Gonzalez. Nola has only pitched six innings deep into a game once in his last seven starts. "He didn't have command of his pitches," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "He threw too many balls, he got behind. He's usually a strike one guy to get ahead of hitters. Started off pretty good, but just lost his command."

PHILS PHACTS: 

• In the third inning, Glasnow hit catcher Cameron Rupp in the head with a 91-mph fastball, and Rupp immediately crumpled to the ground as his helmet fell off. Rupp was able to walk off the field and was replaced by Carlos Ruiz. Rupp showed no ill effects or damage from the hit that grazed his cheek, according to Mackanin, though he will be re-evaluated Sunday. Glasnow later hit Nola in the left hand with a fastball and was pulled soon after in the fourth. Nola said his knuckles had taken most of the hit, but there was no damage done. 
• Through Glasnow's three-plus innings, Herrera, Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis combined to steal five bases. Mackanin attributed it to the 6-foot-8 Glasnow being slow to the plate, and Glasnow admitted after the game it's something he needs to work on.
• "I thought we were going to get to him. He was effectively wild, I think is what it was. And we just couldn't hit the pitches we were supposed to hit. We were ahead in counts and just couldn't capitalize." -- Mackanin, on Glasnow and the Phillies stranding 14 men on base.
• In the second inning, Galvis appeared to ground out to Jaso, who picked up the ball that rolled by Glasnow before tossing it to the pitcher at first. The call was overturned after a review, as replay showed Glasnow's foot never touched the bag. Galvis reached on a missed catch error by Glasnow, assist to Jaso.
• The Pirates challenged an out call against Cervelli at first base in the eighth inning. The call on the field was overturned, as Cervelli had made it to first before Blanco's throw reached first baseman Tommy Joseph.
• In the ninth, the Phillies challenged whether a ball Hernandez hit down the left-field line was fair or foul, but the foul ball call stood after review.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Vince Velasquez (8-2, 3.15 ERA) will start for the Phillies as they try to clinch their series with the Pirates on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET.

PHILS PHACTS:

A Warning Would Have Been Nice! – Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp left in the third inning of Saturday's7-4 loss to the Pirates after being hit in the head by a pitch, but manager Pete Mackanin said it appears Rupp hasn't sustained any significant injury. Pirates rookie Tyler Glasnow hit Rupp with a 91-mph fastball toward the back of his batting helmet. Rupp's helmet came off as he crumpled to the ground, but he was able to walk off the field. "We anticipate him to be fine," Mackanin said. "It deflected off the flap and hit his cheek, and I just took him out. He should be fine, but he's going to be checked out tomorrow." Pinch-runner Carlos Ruiz replaced Rupp and remained in the game at catcher. Glasnow later hit pitcher Aaron Nola in the left hand with a fastball in the fourth inning and was pulled soon after. Nola said after the game that the blow was to his knuckles, but his hand is fine and uninjured. Mackanin wasn't pleased with the lack of command from Glasnow when pitching inside. "This team has a tendency to pitch inside, it's part of their program," Mackanin said. "And I don't have an issue with that. If they want to pitch inside, we can pitch inside, too. However, today, I have an issue with if you're going to pitch inside and you're going to hit a guy in the head, you shouldn't be here."

Running On A Slow Delivery – The Phillies had the bases loaded in the third inning Saturday. They were stealing bases left and right off rookie pitcher Tyler Glasnow. It was a tie game. All that was left on the to-do list was to cross home plate a few times more. But a popout by Cody Asche and a groundout by Freddy Galvis would eventually come back to haunt them in a 7-4 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park, as would many other missed opportunities. Philadelphia pulled ahead by run in the top of the fifth, but couldn't muster up enough offense to overcome a five-run response by the Pirates, despite five stolen bases off Glasnow and Bucs catcher Francisco Cervelli through three-plus innings. "The guy was slow to the plate, and we took advantage of it," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "We stole five bases, still couldn't get any. The third inning haunted us." Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez each stole two bases off Glasnow, with Galvis stealing one in the second inning. Though the Phillies were able to move around the bases, they also stranded 14. For a team that ranks 15th in the Majors in stolen bases with 48, five stolen bases in one game is a definite outlier. The rhythm became the silver lining of a tough loss. "It's nothing in particular, really, but we just take a look at the pitcher," Herrera said through translator Diego Ettedgui. "So it depends on the situation, depends on the pitcher. But when we see we can take advantage of it, we really try to do that."

Taking Precautions – After taking a pitch off his left wrist in Friday's 4-0 win against the Pirates, Maikel Franco was not in the Phillies' lineup on Saturday and is day to day with a sore wrist. "I guess he's got some tenderness," manager Pete Mackanin said. "It's not going to hurt him to not play for a few days." X-rays on Franco's wrist came back negative, according to Mackanin, but the tenderness is more concerning since Franco fractured it in the same place last year. However, the third baseman has been icing and wrapping the wrist, and he said it doesn't feel too severe. "Because I can hit, grab a bat, like I did yesterday. ... I hit yesterday with a bat, also," Franco said. "That's the thing I think about. It's not super serious, because I can do some stuff." Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole hit Franco with a 96-mph fastball in the first inning, and Franco continued to play until the bottom of the fourth. In his next at-bat, Franco singled on a ground ball to center field, but his wrist continued to nag him, and he was soon replaced by Andres Blanco. Blanco played third base and batted third on Saturday. He went 2-for-2 with an RBI in Friday's win. Trainers will re-evaluate the wrist Sunday morning, Franco said.

Today In Phils History – It was quite the interesting contest on this day in 1897 between Philadelphia and Cleveland as with no umpire available for the game each team provided a substitute player to officiate leading to frequent arguments with the Cleveland player behind the plate and ultimately resulting in the Phillies forfeiting the game in the bottom of the 8^th. With a 6^th inning homerun at Shea Stadium in 1965, Dick Stuart became the only active player to have hit a homerun in ever MLB park. 20 year later, Von Hayes connected off Nolan Ryan for an inside the park homerun in the 8^th inning resulting in a Phillies 3-1 win over Houston. 10 years later, the Phillies traded Dave Hollins to Boston for “Hard Hittin” Mark Whitten. In 1998, the Phillies scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 9^th in the second game of a double header at Veterans Stadium and keep pace for the next 3 innings scoring a run in each frame before finally winning the game in the 12^th with 2 more runs scored. 3 years later, despite not being known for his power, Tomas Perez hit a home run from both sides of the plate against the Expos. The following season, 2002, Brett Myers makes his MLB debut as the 1^st Phillies player born in the 1980’s winning the game over Chicago in the process. The following year, 2003, Bobby Abreu tied a franchise record by recording 5 RBI in a single inning. Finally, it was on this day 5 years ago when former Phillies GM Pat Gillick was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 45-54 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 46-57-0 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.

Phils Lose Game And Lose Velasquez

GAME RECAP: Nats Beat Phils 9-6

Stephen Strasburg settled down after a rocky start Friday, retiring the final 14 batters he faced to lead the Nationals to a 9-6 victory over the Phillies. The Washington righty has now won 13 straight decisions, extending a franchise record. Strasburg (10-0) stumbled early, allowing two runs in the second inning and a two-run home run to Tommy Joseph in the third. But after that, he was dominant, reaching double-digit strikeouts for the seventh time this season. "It's just about trying to go out there and [doing] your job," Strasburg said. "They've been swinging the bat great for me, and I'm going to continue to try and keep it close for them." The Nationals' bats provided plenty of offense, with Wilson Ramos, Stephen Drew and Danny Espinosa all going yard, and Daniel Murphy adding two doubles and three RBIs. Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson lasted six innings, ceding seven runs on nine hits, including the three homers. "I made way too many mistakes, and they didn't miss a lot of them," Hellickson said. "The biggest thing was just falling behind. Command wasn't good, especially early in the counts." The Philadelphia bullpen was unable to quiet Washington's lineup, as callup Luis Garcia gave up two more runs in the seventh. Philadelphia got those runs back in the eighth on another two-run homer by Joseph, but Jonathan Papelbon closed the door for Washington in the ninth.

PHILS PHACTS:

• Joseph has now homered four times in the past four games he's started. The right-handed Joseph homered off both right-handed Strasburg and left-handed Felipe Rivero on Friday, supporting the case that he should play every day, regardless of matchup. His batting average is up to .323, and after the game manager Pete Mackanin announced Joseph, not Ryan Howard, would be the Phillies' everyday first baseman moving forward. "You can't say enough about Tommy Joseph," Mackanin said. "He looks like the real deal, and it's great to have him here." 
• Friday marked a bump in the road for Hellickson, who had a 2.53 ERA in his previous five starts. The righty allowed three homers and two doubles over seven innings, consistently leaving pitches up in the zone for hitters to drive. Hellickson said he was particularly frustrated with the loss given the 4-0 lead his team staked him early. "The guys spot me a 4-0 lead in the third inning, I've got to make that stand," he said. "This loss is definitely on me."
• First baseman Ryan Howard is batting only .150 on the season, with a .559 OPS, prompting a gradual decline in his playing time as Tommy Joseph continues to hit well. Howard has only 10 at-bats in June and was not in Philadelphia's lineup Friday against the Nationals. Mackanin said before the game he would talk to Howard, "just to let him know what his status is."

NEXT GAME:

Aaron Nola takes the hill for the Phillies in the second game of their three-game series against the Nationals. Nola is coming off six scoreless innings against the Brewers on Sunday and has now thrown a quality start in nine straight outings. He holds a 2.65 ERA on the season, with 85 strikeouts in 78 innings.

PHILS PHACTS:

Howard Supplanted – After more than a decade in the center of the Phillies' lineup, Ryan Howard is officially out as the club's primary first baseman. Manager Pete Mackanin spoke to Howard before Friday's game and told the veteran that the hot-hitting Tommy Joseph would get the bulk of the playing time at first base moving forward. Joseph hit two home runs in the Phillies' 9-6 loss to the Nationals on Friday, and he now has seven homers in 65 at-bats since being called up May 13. "I can't sit Tommy Joseph," Mackanin said. "You can't say enough about Tommy Joseph. He looks like the real deal, and it's great to have him here." When Joseph came up last month, the Phillies planned to use him against lefties and Howard against righties. But as Howard struggled (he's hitting .150 on the season) and Joseph stayed hot, Mackanin was forced to give the 24-year-old rookie more opportunities. So on Friday, the manager summoned Howard to his office and told him Joseph would be playing every day. "He was low-key about it," Mackanin said. "I'm sure he's not happy about it, but he didn't have a whole lot to say. You can't argue about Tommy Joseph." Joseph celebrated his promotion by hitting two home runs Friday, one off right-handed starter Stephen Strasburg and the other off left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero. Joseph has now homered four times in his last four starts. Joseph raved about Howard's mentorship, saying the three-time All-Star has been supportive of him throughout the last month, even as they competed for playing time. "He's the best," Joseph said. "He's been great, very easy to talk to. He's been there for me every step of the way. Whenever I need anything, he's there. He's a good guy to learn from, too. Obviously the guy has been in the game for over a decade now, so he's seen a lot of different things, and he's a guy I can go talk to about certain situations in the game." In many ways, Howard's demotion was a long time coming. His numbers have dropped gradually since his mid-2000s peak, when he won 2006 National League MVP Award, with his OPS falling to .704 in 2014 and '15 and .559 in 2016. With Joseph hitting .323/.333/.677, it was time for a change. Mackanin said he would look to get Howard pinch-hit opportunities and give the veteran spot starts from time to time. The manager said benching someone who has accomplished as much as Howard is not ideal but that he felt he had no choice. "I flat-out don't like it," Mackanin said. "I don't like to have to deal with it because of what he's done for the organization over the years. Once again, this is another year where we're looking to the future, and Tommy Joseph looks like he's going to be in the future."

Velasquez To DL – It was no surprise Friday when the Phillies announced that they had placed Vince Velasquez on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right biceps. Philadelphia called up right-handed reliever Luis Garcia to fill Velasquez's roster spot for the weekend and announced that prospect Zach Eflin will pitch in place of Velasquez on Tuesday. Velasquez left Wednesday afternoon's game against the Cubs after just two pitches -- a pair of fastballs that registered just 86 and 87 mph on the radar gun. Velasquez's fastball had averaged 95 mph this season, so clearly he is not healthy. And knowing how important the 24-year-old right-hander is to the team's future, there was no chance they would risk his health by allowing him to continue to pitch. The Phillies and Velasquez indicated Wednesday, however, they do not believe the injury is serious. Manager Pete Mackanin said Friday that Velasquez's MRI came back "pretty clean," and the pitches reiterated his lack of concern. "It's just a little strain, just a little fluid in there," Velasquez said, citing the results of the MRI. "We'll shoot for 15 days and go from there. I don't know how many days. It might take 10, five, who knows." Velasquez had a 2.42 ERA through his first eight starts this season. But in his previous three outings before the injury, he posted an 8.31 ERA while not making it through five innings in any of those games. Velasquez first felt something while warming up in the bullpen Wednesday, but the injury could have accounted for his recent struggles. Velasquez was the key piece in the Ken Giles trade with Houston in December. The Phillies originally agreed to send Giles to the Astros for a four-player package that included right-handers Velasquez and Thomas Eshelman, left-hander Brett Oberholtzer and outfielder Derek Fisher. However, the Phillies had apprehensions about Velasquez's physical. He had Tommy John surgery in 2010, but sources also said the club had concerns about his shoulder. In the end, the trade got delayed a few days and was reworked. The Phillies sent Giles and Minor League infielder Jonathan Arauz to the Astros for five pitchers: Velasquez, Eshelman, Oberholtzer, Mark Appel and Harold Arauz. Velasquez does not believe the biceps strain could lead to something like another elbow surgery. "It's just more in the biceps area," he said. "It's just something that's probably more minor. This is not something to be too worried about." Eflin will make his Major League debut in place of Velasquez on Tuesday. The Phillies acquired the righty from the Dodgers in exchange for Jimmy Rollins in December 2014. The 22-year-old entered the season as Philadelphia's 13th-ranked prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. He has a 2.90 ERA in 68 1/3 innings this season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Until Eflin arrives, Garcia will join Philadelphia's bullpen. The 29-year-old righty has a 3.90 ERA in 113 career innings and has thrown one scoreless inning at the Major League level in 2016. "He's got stuff to be a real good pitcher at this level," Mackanin said of Garcia. "It's always about command, control. If you can command your stuff, throw quality strikes, he's got the ability to be a real good relief pitcher."

Draft Recap – The Phillies believe they got some serious bang for their buck in the first three rounds of the 2016 MLB Draft. They selected three high schoolers: outfielder Mickey Moniak with the first overall pick, right-hander Kevin Gowdy in the second round and shortstop Cole Stobbe, whom they selected in the third round Friday afternoon. The Phillies used their remaining seven picks Friday to select college players. Overall, the Phillies have selected six pitchers and four position players in the first 10 rounds. "We feel we got two first-rounders with the first two picks and really a compensation-type pick in the third round," Phillies amateur scouting director Johnny Almaraz said Friday night. "We thought all of those high school players have superior ability over a lot of the college guys." Track every Phillies pick from Day 2 of the 2016 MLB Draft, which consisted of Rounds 3-10. The Draft concludes on Saturday, with exclusive coverage of Rounds 11-40 beginning on MLB.com at noon ET. Round 3 (78th overall), Cole Stobbe, SS-3B, Millard West HS (Omaha, Neb.): MLB Pipeline had Stobbe at No. 47 on its Draft board. He is committed to Arkansas, but they expect him to sign. Scouts love Stobbe's makeup. The right-handed hitter has a quick, compact stroke and hits the ball to all fields. He hit 14 home runs as a senior, and some project him to be a batter who could hit .280 with 15-18 homers per season in the big leagues. He is expected to remain at shortstop. One scout told MLB Pipeline that Stobbe is a poor-man's version of Rockies rookie Trevor Story. Round 4 (107th overall), JoJo Romero, LHP, Yavapai College (Prescott, Ariz.): Romero's junior college knows big leaguers. It has produced players like Curt Schilling and Ken Giles. Romero, who the Phillies also expect to sign, has a four-pitch mix, with his four-seam fastball touching 94-95 mph. He also throws a curveball, a slider and a changeup. Scouts told MLB Pipeline there are some concerns about his durability, so he might end up in the bullpen. But the Phillies view him as a starter. "We followed JoJo throughout the year and we felt he was just a really tough competitor, a good pitcher. He's got three above-average pitches," Almaraz said. "There's still room for growth." Round 5 (137th overall), Cole Irvin, LHP, University of Oregon: MLB Pipeline ranked him 138th on its Draft list. Of the college players the Phillies selected Friday, Irvin could be the fastest mover through the farm system. Irvin had Tommy John surgery in 2014, but he pitched well this season with the Ducks. In fact, his fastball hit 93-94 mph after adding some strength. Irvin also throws a slider and a changeup, and he throws his pitches with the same arm speed, which adds deception. The twice-drafted Irvin is the epitome of the advanced college lefty when he is firing on all cylinders. "He's definitely a polished left-handed pitcher," Almaraz said. Round 6 (167th overall), David Martinelli, CF, Dallas Baptist: MLB Pipeline ranked him 74th on its list. The Phillies love his upside. In fact, they think he might have the highest ceiling of any of the college players the Phillies drafted on Day 2. Dallas Baptist has produced big leaguers Ben Zobrist, Jason LaRue and Lew Ford. Martinelli has plenty of tools, although scouts have been wary about some swing-and-miss issues. He ranked among the NCAA Division I strikeout leaders in each of his first two seasons. He also hit .141 with a wooden bat in the Cape Cod League. That said, Martinelli, who can play all three outfield positions, cut his strikeout rate by almost two-thirds this season. He has been much more consistent at the plate, driving the ball to all fields. "He's really a five-tool player," Almaraz said. Round 7 (197th overall), Henri Lartigue, C, University of Mississippi: The switch-hitting junior led his team with a .353 batting average and a .414 on-base percentage. He also had 11 doubles, four home runs and 31 RBIs in 207 at-bats. He was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, which is given to the nation's top college catcher. Round 8 (227th overall), Grant Dyer, RHP, UCLA: Dyer went 4-4 with a 4.50 ERA in 13 starts this season. He has pitched in the bullpen in the past, and some think his stuff will play up better there. He struck out 70 and walked 24 in 80 innings. Round 9 (257th overall), Blake Quinn, RHP, Cal State Fullerton: Quinn, who is 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds, transferred from Fresno State and pitched well as a junior. He went 4-3 with a 2.16 ERA, striking out 69 in 66 innings. Round 10 (287th overall), Julian Garcia, RHP, Metro State College (Denver): The sophomore went 5-7 with a 2.90 ERA. He struck out 95 and walked 29 in 83 2/3 innings. He is the 11th player in school history to be drafted, but he is hoping to become the first player to reach the big leagues.

Today In Phils History – Five years after former Phillie Frank Thomas was born in 1929, the Phillies acquired Dolph Camilli. In 1951, the Phillies made another addition in Ted Kazanski. 5 years later a truly rare occurrence happened on the diamond when catcher Stan Lopata stole home on the back end of a double steal. In 1983, Steve Carlton recorded his 100^th strikeout of the year which was also his 17^th consecutive season reaching that benchmark tying Warren Spahn’s NL record. 2 years later, in a win against the Mets that saw the Phillies set franchise records for runs scored (26), hits (27), and total bases (47), Von Hayes became the 21^st player in MLB history to hit 2 homeruns in an inning. 5 years later, Lenny Dykstra entered the day with a .407 average (he would finish the year at .325). Another outfielder on that 1990 team was Ron Jones who was born on this day in 1964. And, finally, it was on this day in 1999 when Randy Wolf made his major league debut with the Phillies.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 29-32 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 43-58-0 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 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!

Phillies Moving Forward With A Plan

PHILS PHACTS:

On The Same Page – Matt Klentak and Pete Mackanin seem to be getting along just fine since they first met in October. The Phillies named Mackanin their manager in 2016 before they hired Klentak as general manager in October. General managers often prefer their hand-picked men in the dugout, but both said Tuesday they expect no problems next season. "I think if we're collectively doing our jobs the right way and communicating the way that we need to that there should never be an issue," Klentak said. "There should never be a time where I want something to happen that he's doing the other way. As long as we're communicating, which we will, there shouldn't be an issue." "We're always going to talk," Mackanin said. "I'm open to any suggestion. He gets the players for me, and I run the team with his input. And I give him input on which players I'd like to have, so he makes that final decision. Ultimately he ends up making my decision too. If he tells me he wants this guy playing a little bit more, I'm open to it. I get it. I might not agree with it, but in the end if he tells me to do it, I'll do it." Mackanin later discussed numerous topics during his media session at the Winter Meetings: Who's in center field? Mackanin called Odubel Herrera one of the better defensive center fielders in the National League, but he knows the Phillies just acquired Peter Bourjos last week. Bourjos is regarded as one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball. So who plays center? "In my mind right now, [Herrera] is the incumbent center fielder, which doesn't mean it won't change in the spring," Mackanin said. "As hard as he worked towards accomplishing his goals defensively last year, I want to make him -- I don't want to discourage him after doing such a good job for us." Interestingly, Mackanin also said Herrera could get some time at second base in Spring Training. Herrera played primarily second base in the Minor Leagues before joining the Phillies last season. But the Phillies have other outfielders coming through the system, so if they need to make room for somebody, Herrera could transition to second to keep him in the lineup. "It might come to that," Mackanin said. "I'm not looking to do that right now, but it may happen. But I don't want to. He had such a great showing defensively that I don't want to, like I said, discourage him from making him think it was all for nothing." Bourjos will play: The Phillies did not acquire Bourjos to sit on the bench. The Phillies believe he will perform better offensively if he plays on a more regular basis. "There's a lot of people that feel that he's better than the way he's played the last few years," Mackanin said. "I'm one of them." Franco's D: Third baseman Maikel Franco had a fine rookie season offensively, but he struggled defensively at times. He committed 10 errors in 75 games at third. "I think he got a little careless, and we're going to see a Gold Glove-type performance out of him defensively," Mackanin said. "He felt like he let himself down last year. We know he's better."

One On One With The Manager – At the end of the season, you kind of talked about how getting a full-time job, how you could maybe do some more stuff, implement some things and that you would take some time in the off-season to kind of think about what that would be. Have you given much thought about any specific things or adjustments? Well, I constantly find myself thinking of new things, things I'd like to do, but I keep fighting the urge. I'm trying to enjoy my off-season as much as possible before we start that grind of seven months. But I've got some good ideas about just the way we're going to execute drills. We're going to put a lot of emphasis on baserunning, for one, which is why I eliminated your typical coach who is an outfielder/baserunning guy. Juan is going to remain the outfield guy, and Mickey Morandini is going to take over strictly baserunning and we are going to zero inasmuch as we can. I know everybody talks about fundamentals and how we are really going to pay attention to those things, but this is one way I feel we can really do that. Defense is a very important part of the game, and I'm very happy that we've got some outfielders that can cover a lot of ground and they are sure-handed outfielders. That makes the pitching better which takes runs away. In a couple areas, I feel we've already improved in that respect. A few more things like that, we're going to introduce a few more different ways of going about doing things. You had talked at the end of the season about how you've been in different situations whereas part of scouting, whatever, you talked about you look at free agents and which one are we going to get and sometimes you have to flip the page to lesser guys. How much of a role have you had at the Winter Meetings and looking over free agents? We gather in that suite every day and just hash things out. We just talk about different players, who you run into. You kind of walk around and talk to people that you know and get a feeling of what other teams are looking for. You kind of have an idea, but it's just about schmoozing people and trying to get some information, and they get information from you. As I said, when I was with, for example, the Expos, we would go over in our group, we would go over the list of free agents. And by the time we would flip most pages to the back page, guys we can afford to get. But then when I was with the Yankees as a scout, it was anybody. We could look at anybody. The Phillies, and Matt, they have a certain way they go about doing things. So we are discussing more than anything. I can't really comment much on his attack, so to say. We just all give our input and they make the decisions. Given where the roster is in terms of rebuilding, when you get to Spring Training, how do you convince the players and the fan base, even, that there's any chance to be competitive? The first thing I want to get across to the players is that I'm looking for positive energy. I start with that. I tell them that -- I'll give you an example. Freddy Galvis hit .260 something and he showed some promise there, and I think he's capable of doing better. César Hernández started playing finally, and he showed a lot of promise. We always felt like these guys were going to play well enough and hit well enough to be part of the future, but now they finally have an opportunity to do that. Maikel Franco stepped into his role and showed us that he was going to be a solid middle-of-the-order guy. Now that being said, all I can do as a manager to keep these guys pointed in the right direction is make them feel like how good they are, reinforce how good they are, and explain to these guys that in baseball, it's not necessarily always going to go their way and when you get knocked down, you're going to get knocked down during the course of the season, it's how you get back up, rather than staying down on the ground. So my approach is just to remain positive; at the same time, demand results. How about the fans? The fans, well, let's put it this way: Somebody asked me how I was going to manage the team knowing that we weren't really at the place we want to be. Well, I manage -- I only know one way to manage. I just want to manage each day to win that game. And if I can convince the players to worry about how they compete on that given day, and let the fans know that we are competing and doing the best we can with what we have, I don't see how -- I think the way the players play will convince the fans that these guys are really trying and for real. What's the biggest thing you're looking forward to in terms of next season compared to last season where you had a lot of young guys and a lot of guys showing that they could do things, but what are you looking for in terms of a next step in terms of the guys that were on the roster last year? Well, you take a guy like Galvis and Hernandez and Franco, and Cameron made some strides late in the season, and he's a solid, strong-arm catcher, we've seen Odubel Herrera come out of nowhere to start off pretty good. He faltered a bit and went back to .250, .260, but then he battled back and hosed in right at .300. For me he's going to become a perennial .300 hitter. He's one of the better center fielders in the league in my opinion. That was a plus. Aaron Altherr, he made a good impression. He still needs a ways to go. But he made a great impression, as well as Cody Asche. We feel strongly that he's better than he's shown. We want these guys -- the next step is for Freddy to improve even more, for Hernández to improve. They have to incrementally have to get better. That's what we're looking for all of them to do, get better each year because we are counting on them to be part of the future. You mentioned Herrera defensively. Bourjos, I guess, arguably, is probably one of the guys that might be better than him defensively. How do you see those guys working and in terms of rotation, playing time? You know, I know that I've scouted Bourjos in the past, and I know that he's a premiere center fielder. I'm told, although I haven't seen them play that much, Aaron Altherr is an outstanding center fielder. What I saw out of Odubel this year was very impressive. He made some mistakes, but he outran his mistakes. He's flamboyant. He's not afraid to dive. He takes charge out there. To me a center fielder, my opinion of a center fielder is that he catches every ball that's hit in the air until he can't get it, and then the corners help him out. And that's how Odubel plays. You saw it. If they are all three close to being as good as Bourjos is, we have three center fielders, no matter where they play, it's going to cover ground and help the pitching and take hits away and we have improved that way. Do you see him playing more than Frenchy played last year? Well, under the circumstances with what we have, he's going to get a lot of playing time. There's a lot of people that feel that he's better than the way he's played the last few years. I'm one of them. I like Peter Bourjos. I think he's got an upside to him, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in the spring and have Steve Henderson work with him and get him back on the right track. If he gets enough playing time, that's what players need in order to get some kind of a rhythm going. You made the deal for Hellickson from the Diamondbacks. What do you like about him? He's a solid strike thrower. He's going to give us some innings. He's got some experience. I know he started off extremely well his first couple years and hasn't been quite the same since, but, once again, we feel he's a guy that's going to pitch better than he has the last couple years. I thought Matt made a great deal getting him. When you look at Nola and how he kind of handled things last year, what do you expect from a second act from him going forward? The thing about Nola, a lot of young guys, especially Nola, I recall my first time in the Big Leagues, I was scared to death. When Nola pitched, it's like he knew he belonged there from day one. He never showed fear. He's got a great presence on the mound. He made some mistakes with pitch selection and/or location, but he knew it and he adjusted immediately. The guy, he's a cool customer. This guy really is an intelligent pitcher. The thing he's got going for him the most is his ability to command his fastball to both sides of the plate. And you can't teach that. If you've got that, plus you add in his other things -- and I think his changeup we didn't see as much; that he could have thrown it more. I think once we see that, he's going to become even better. I'm not by any way comparing him to Greg Maddux, but Greg Maddux became a premier pitcher because he figured it out. He read swings. He knew what he had to do to get hitters out, and I think Nola has got the capability of being that kind of a guy. What strides would you like to see Franco make in what will be his second full season? The one thing, the first thing that comes to my mind is, No. 1, he's going to be a solid, three, four, five hitter in my opinion. He's aggressive. He's a run producer. This past season, he did not play the defense we expected him to play. He made some careless errors, and I think the year before in AAA, he made -- it was something like five errors and they were all throwing errors. The guy doesn't miss. I think he got a little careless, and we're going to see a Gold Glove-type performance out of him defensively. He felt like he let himself down last year. We know he's better. Larry Bowa worked with him quite a bit and they both talked, which was a nice sign for Maikel to talk about it and say, I know I'm better than that. So that's the thing I'm expecting from him. How much time, if any, have you really gotten away from thinking about baseball? I'm sure when the season ends, you're thinking about what's coming up. I've been in the game 48 years and you never stop thinking about it because something always comes up. Especially nowadays, every time you turn on the TV, there's another media outlet, MLB and ESPN and all these sports channels and you can't get away from it. I try to avoid it because I'd like to have a week or two where I just don't have to worry about it, because, like I said, once you start that first day of Spring Training, it's all systems go for seven months, hopefully eight months. And you talked a little about Cameron Rupp, a guy that you saw improvement from offensively at the end of the year last year. Is he a guy that can catch a hundred games? What do you see? It's hard for me to project that, but let's put it this way: This guy can catch and throw, he's got plus power, above average power potential, and that's the kind of guy you're looking for at catcher; that cannot only do a good job handling pitchers but he can catch and throw runners out. He's got a bazooka for an arm and he's accurate with it. Now the next thing is getting his average where you'd like it, and he started hitting home runs later on in the season. I think with a few adjustments to his approach, I think he's going to be capable of hitting even more home runs and improve more as a hitter. Once again it, was his first full year in the Big Leagues, so you have to keep that in the back of your mind that it's not that easy just to jump in and hit .280 and 25 home runs and knock in 80 runs. There's an adjustment to be made. Getting back to your previous question, we are expecting these guys to get better than they showed they were last year. And how would you describe so far your relationship with Matt? Obviously it's one that's a very important relationship. How do you think things have gone and what have you learned about him? He's a genuine person. He's very easy to talk to. He's intelligent. And he's congenial. This guy knows how to relate to people. At least he and I get along very well. I can say what I feel to him, and we can banter back and forth. I'm being paid for my opinion, all of us in baseball, at some point or another, we're paid for our opinions, and he solicits those opinions and he makes his decisions based on knowledge of the game. When you first saw him -- Everybody wants to be liked. At some point you like -- you like me, don't you? (Laughing.) Sure, there's always that little anxious moment, but at the same time, I know I get along with people very well, and it is what it is. He's my boss and I try to get along with him, which is easy. Being on the same page with the lineup, do you feel like you already have that understanding of what you guys are aiming for? He's been great. He has not sent me any mandates or made any demands from me or told me who I had to play. Once again, we talked about this earlier, I'm certainly going to discuss the team and what I'd like to do with them and he might have an idea that I might say, you know what, that's a good idea, we'll use it. So far as I'm concerned, I'm making out the lineup and until I'm told any differently, I'm going to continue making it out. There have been a few guys added for the bullpen, or at least potentially for the bullpen. Do you view it as kind of open competition or do you say, hey, I already have Gomez, Garcia, Giles, so now I have to fill in the rest? No question about it. It's open competition. As I said, we've got some speed in the outfield, which makes any pitchers better. Takes away hits. We've got more pitchers with some backgrounds to them, which is going to increase the competitive environment of Spring Training, and these guys are going to know that, hey, if you want to play at the Big League level, we are looking for guys who can help us win. You've got to be better than the next guy. You're going to have to compete to make the team. It's a great environment to be in. So these guys who maybe thought they were doing okay, might get a wake-up call. Are you thinking about Giles as your closer at this point, or is that still pretty much an open question? He's my closer right now. I like what he did last year. You talked about having three center fielders in the outfield potentially at the same time, to cover all that ground, is it Odubel's job or is it going to be an open competition as far as center field itself in Spring Training? We've just been discussing that, and I know as we said, I know how good Bourjos is and I know how good alter can be in center field. But I also saw Odubel play last year. In my mind right now, he's the incumbent center fielder, which doesn't mean it won't change in the spring. As hard as he worked towards accomplishing his goals defensively last year, I want to make him -- I don't want to discourage him after doing such a good job for us. But I'll talk to him. Juan Samuel and I will talk to him, and we'll talk to all three of those guys, and even Cody Asche will be in the mix, and Darin Ruf will be in the mix. I'm just going to talk to these guys. That's the best way I know how to manage is talk to them. Are you going to have Herrera get any reps at second base in the spring or use him solely as an outfielder? We'll probably work him out there. You never know, there's always guys coming up behind him, and, once again, as I said, when you're a three- or four-year player, there's always that young kid that everybody's talking about. So you've got to continue to compete and to keep your job. So let's put it this way: If somebody comes up that has to play center field for whatever reason, then we want -- I certainly want Odubel's bat in the lineup. It might come to that. I'm not looking to do that right now, but it may happen. I don't want to -- he had such a great showing defensively that I don't want to, like I said, discourage him from making him think it was all for nothing. With Matt coming in, he's going to bring more of an analytic angle to the club that's been there before. How will that impact you as a manager? I scouted for the Yankees in 2008 and 2013. We used a lot of the analytics, and really it was the scouting director. We used a lot of the analytics and I used them to write my reports. There was a lot of information in there. I, for one, believe that anything that can help you make a decision on a player and evaluate a player is invaluable. I believe in it wholeheartedly. That doesn't mean that instinct doesn't come in. For example, you can look on an elementary level, during the course of the game as a manager, you look at matchups and so-and-so is 15 or 20 off a pitcher. But your hitter might be in the midst of the worst slump of his career, even though he hits this other guy well, so you might choose not to let him hit for him, because he's in such a bad slump. So the analytics tell you you should use him, but your gut kind of tells you, you know, not right now, he's not going to hit him right now. That type of -- that's not a good example maybe. So you can combine the two. A follow-up on that, data shows that pitchers are far less effective a third time through the order and now there's a school of thought that maybe you shouldn't put most of your pitchers in that situation. That might appear to be a new concept, but over the years that I've managed, starting in 1985, you're always tentative when you get into that sixth inning. It always seems to happen late in the fifth or sixth inning where you have to keep your eye on your starter. It wasn't really one of those things that was written down or talked about, but that's always the time I, as a manager, would start getting a little nervous and be a little bit more -- and watch my starter a little closer and maybe get a guy up throwing. So it makes a lot of sense. It doesn't mean you'll always take your -- you will never let your guy face the lineup three times or four times, depending on how he's pitching. You've seen games where I think Nola went into the eighth inning, he could have thrown nine innings one night, he was just making adjustments as they came along. I think all of that is invaluable stuff, but it's nothing set in concrete for me.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and bipolar performances, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in franchise history! However, at least Ryan Madson got another ring this year.