Howard Turns Back Clock Against Mets

GAME RECAP: Phillies Top Mets 4-2

If the Phillies are serious about making a run at .500, and maybe even the National League Wild Card, they have to win series against teams like the Mets. They have an opportunity to do so following Saturday night's 4-2 victory over the Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard launched a solo homer in the second inning, and third baseman Maikel Franco slapped a single to left field with one out in the seventh to score Peter Bourjos from second base to give the Phillies (43-49) a one-run lead. Carlos Ruiz scored an insurance run on a wild pitch in the eighth as Jeanmar Gomez picked up his 25th save in the ninth. "It's good to win," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I didn't want to hear the Mets fans." The Mets had opportunities, putting the leadoff man on base five times in seven innings against Phillies right-hander Jerad Eickhoff, but they could not put together the big inning. Both Travis d'Arnaud and Jose Reyes logged sacrifice flies for New York, and Juan Lagares notched a double in his second straight start in center field.

PHILS PHACTS:

• Franco had been scuffling for much of the season, but he has caught fire the last few weeks. He is hitting .354 (29-for-82) with five doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 21 RBIs and a 1.119 OPS in his last 21 games. He is hitting .235 (26-for-80) with runners in scoring position this season. “I think he's better than what he was last year," Howard said. "I think getting that experience, every year you get a little more, and that makes you better. He's just really in a good, comfortable spot right now."
• Eickhoff might have been the Phillies' best starter in the first half of the season, although he allowed a career-high eight runs on July 9 in Colorado. But he returned to form against the Mets. He allowed five hits, two runs, one walk and struck out three in six-plus innings. He also doubled and scored the game-tying run in the fifth. "He's not as sharp as I've seen him," Mackanin said. "He really wasn't that sharp, and he pitched well enough to win. Too many baserunners for my liking, but he got us into the seventh inning."
• "I know it was a good situation for me. I just wanted to put the ball in play, and something good happened for me and my team, too." -- Franco, on his game-winning hit against Hansel Robles.
• Howard hit his 370th career homer in the second inning, tying him with Gil Hodges for 77th place on the all-time home run list. Howard's 46 homers against the Mets are the most among active players. He also ranks fifth all-time behind Willie Stargell (60), Chipper Jones (49), Mike Schmidt (49) and Willie McCovey (48). Howard had been tied with Hank Aaron for fifth.
• Eickhoff nearly made a crucial play in the seventh thanks to a heads-up play on the mound. He fielded a Brandon Nimmo comebacker and caught d'Arnaud off of second base. But as d'Arnaud retreated, Eickhoff made a high throw that drew Freddy Galvis away from the bag. He got the tag down and umpires initially ruled d'Arnaud out at second. Mets manager Terry Collins challenged and replay officials overturned the call, giving the Mets runners at first and second. Collins is now 7-for-16 on challenges this season.
• Peter Bourjos is looking to extend his NL-leading 23-game on-base streak. He extended it Saturday night on a throwing error by Asdrubal Cabrera. Over the length of the streak, Bourjos is hitting .381 (32-84 AB) with 12 extra-base hits and 17 runs scored.
• Another obstacle for a pitcher's duel: The Phillies have found success against deGrom in the past. Although he has a 3.03 career ERA against them, Cody Asche and Freddy Galvis both own batting averages north of .400 against him and Ryan Howard has two home runs in 17 at-bats.
• Yoenis Cespedes has missed the first two games out of the All-Star break with a strained right quad. The Mets were hopeful he would be ready for Saturday's game and held out posting the lineup until only two hours before first pitch, awaiting the results of Cespedes' running drills. But Juan Lagares again filled in in center field for the second straight day. Manager Terry Collins still does not believe the quad will require a DL stint for Cespedes.

NEXT GAME:

Zach Eflin has bounced back from a disastrous debut to grow into one of the Phillies' most reliable starters heading into the second half of the season. But if you thought his last few starts have been good, just look at the Mets hurler he'll face in Sunday's finale. Jacob deGrom joins Bartolo Colon as the only Mets starter not bit by the injury bug in the season's first half. He's been particularly effective since bone spurs began to bother Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz. Over deGrom's last three starts, he's allowed only three runs in 20 innings. Each of Eflin's last three starts have gone down as quality ones. But even his more-than-respectable 2.57 ERA over that span looks gargantuan compared to deGrom's 1.35 mark. It may look like recipe for a Sunday afternoon pitcher's duel. But deGrom has to deal with a Phillies offense that is averaging over five runs a game over its last 10, while Eflin faces a Mets team that has clubbed 14 home runs in four games this season at Citizens Bank Park.

PHILS PHACTS:

Franco On Fire – This is the Maikel Franco the Phillies expected. Franco hit a one-out single to left field in the seventh inning on Saturday night in a 4-2 victory over the Mets at Citizens Bank Park. The hit scored Peter Bourjos from second base to break a 2-2 tie. It also put the Phillies in position to win the series. "It's good to win," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I didn't want to hear the Mets fans." Franco has been swinging a hot bat since a slow start. He posted a disappointing .690 OPS through June 20, which put him among the bottom half of everyday third basemen. Franco has been on a tear since Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz told the team's young hitters to relax in a meeting before a three-game series in Minnesota on June 21. He is hitting .354 (29-for-82) with five doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 21 RBIs and a 1.119 OPS in his last 21 games. His OPS is third among all third basemen in that span, behind only Toronto's Josh Donaldson (1.190) and Arizona's Jake Lamb (1.172). Despite his slow start, Franco is tied for sixth among third basemen in home runs (18) and tied for fifth in RBIs (54). "I'm seeing pitches much better," Franco said. "Even today, my first three at-bats, I felt really good. I'm staying positive. Every at-bat is really important." Franco entered the season as the team's No. 3 hitter. He fell to sixth in the Phillies' lineup on June 18-19 against the D-backs. But he is back hitting in the middle, looking like a force that the team can build around. "I think he's better than what he was last year," Howard said. "I think getting that experience, every year you get a little more, and that makes you better. He's just really in a good, comfortable spot right now." If Franco had been hitting like this from the jump, he likely would have joined teammate Odubel Herrera at the All-Star Game earlier this week in San Diego. Maybe next year. "I can't control that," Franco said. "I want to be at the All-Star Game at every year, but right now I just feel more comfortable at home plate."

Slowing Down – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin announced the Phillies' rotation to open the second half last Sunday in Colorado. He said Jeremy Hellickson would start the second-half opener Friday against the Mets at Citizens Bank Park because he is the most experienced pitcher in the group. He chose Jerad Eickhoff to pitch Saturday, instead of Aaron Nola, Vince Velasquez or Zach Eflin, because he might have been the Phillies' best pitcher in the first half. Eickhoff showed his ability to grind in Saturday's 4-2 victory over the Mets. He allowed five hits, two runs, one walk and struck out three in six-plus innings, while also notching a pair of hits and scoring a run. The line score makes it look like Eickhoff had an easy night, but it was far from that. He allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base in five of seven innings. "He's not as sharp as I've seen him," Mackanin said. "He really wasn't that sharp, and he pitched well enough to win. Too many baserunners for my liking, but he got us into the seventh inning." "That was kind of frustrating," Eickhoff said. "I was starting in the stretch early on." But Eickhoff bounced back from arguably the worst start of his career July 9 in Colorado, where he allowed a career-high eight runs in 5 1/3 innings. "Deep breaths," Eickhoff said, asked how he worked out of his jams Saturday. "Just kind of focus on each pitch and not try to think too far ahead. Just focus on the now and not worrying about giving up two, three, four runs, instead of giving up just one. Just kind of slowed it down a little bit." It is no secret that Hellickson could be traded before the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline, and the Phillies are closely monitoring the workloads of Nola and Velasquez. Eickhoff could be the Phillies' lone starter to approach 200 innings before the end of the season as he establishes himself as the rotation's workhorse. He has a team-high 115 innings through 19 starts, a little more than six innings per start. "An innings eater, that's what I've always wanted to be," he said. He grinded through his start Saturday to keep him on pace of becoming just that.

Today In Phils History – Following the efforts of Boston, down 12-2 in the 8^th, to delay a game in 1894, the Phillies were given the win by forfeit causing the fans to riot against Boston and forcing them to be removed from the stadium under police escort. The longest game in Phillies history, 21 innings, occurred on this day in 1918 with neither team committing an error (MLB record) in the 2-1 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 30 years later, Granny Hamner drove in 7 runs against the Cardinals with a single and 2 doubles. In 1984, with 8 strikeouts in the game, Steve Carlton surpasses the century mark for the 18^th straight season setting a new NL record and tying Walter Johnson’s MLB record. 4 years later, Rickey Jordan hit a 3 run homerun in his first MLB at bat (second MLB plate appearance) to help the Phillies defeat the Astros 10-4. In 2007, Aaron Rowand collected 3 doubles and a homerun against the Dodgers, 3 days after collecting 4 extra base hits in a game, to become the first player to have multiple 4 extra base hit games in the same month. The following season, the Phillies acquired Joe Blanton from Oakland for their World Series run. Finally, happy birthday to Deron Johnson (1938) and Bobby Thigpen (1963).  

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 43-49 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 54-50-1 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.

Rookies Lead Phillies To Victory

GAME RECAP: Phils Filet Fish 3-1

Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez set the tone, working out of a first-inning jam, and struck out 10 in five shutout innings. The bullpen kept the K's coming, Phillies pitchers racking up 17 in a 3-1 win over the Marlins on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. Tommy Joseph, who picked up his first big league hit on Monday, homered for the first time in his career in a 3-for-4 night. The drive off the foul pole in left in the second inning was the first of three runs (two earned) allowed by Miami lefty Wei-Yin Chen in six innings. The Marlins had their three-game win streak snapped. "Tonight was all about Tommy Joseph and the bullpen," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "It was nice to see Tommy get his first home run. He made that great play to end the game. Not much more you can ask for from him." The 17 strikeouts by the Phillies is the most since the club fanned 18 on May 6, 2011, against the Braves, which also is a franchise mark for a nine-inning game. For Miami, the 17 times striking out matches a team high for nine innings, with the last coming on April 10, 2014, at Washington. Miami had runners on second and third with no outs in the first against Velasquez. But the right-hander worked out of it, and he also stranded runners at the corners in the third. Miami did manage to raise his pitch count, and after 103 pitches and five innings, the Phillies were into their bullpen. "To win a game when your starter throws over 100 pitches in five innings is really a bonus," Mackanin said. With the win, the Phils moved a half-game behind the Nationals for first place in the National League East. Miami's Marcell Ozuna had his 16-game hit streak snapped. "[Velasquez] gets off the hook in the first there, we get him in trouble," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "He's got 75 through three innings. We did a nice job of battling him. He's got good stuff. It seems like from there, we didn't really put anything together until there at the end." Miami loaded the bases in the ninth against Jeanmar Gomez, who allowed a Derek Dietrch sacrifice fly, but got Martin Prado to ground out to Joseph to seal the win and earn his 15th save.

PHILS PHACTS:

• If getting his first Major League hit and home run on back-to-back nights wasn't enough, Joseph piled on, collecting two more hits in addition to his long ball and driving home two of the Phillies' three runs. Tuesday marked the first time Joseph batted cleanup, and Mackanin's decision paid off. It was just the third time in 40 games this season that a Phillies No. 4 hitter recorded three hits. Spanning 202 games since the start of 2015, it was just the 10th such occurrence. "I didn't expect that," Joseph said of being penciled in the No. 4 hole. "To hit cleanup for this team, who's playing really well right now, it's pretty awesome."
• Velasquez didn't retire the Marlins 1-2-3 in an inning until the fourth, when he was already at 91 pitches. He allowed the first two to reach base in the first inning, but a strikeout paired with smart play from Freddy Galvis at short prevented any damage. In the third, Miami again had a runner at third base, but Velasquez got Justin Bour to whiff on a curveball to end the threat. Velasquez dodged trouble all night, but the 103 pitches it took him to do so prevented him from going any deeper. It was his fourth start this season in which he's allowed zero runs on three hits or fewer, but he's only reached the seventh inning once. "Velasquez, he was just spraying the ball all over the place," Mackanin said.
• Ichiro Suzuki is inching closer toward 3,000 hits. The 42-year-old, called upon to pinch-hit in the seventh inning for Chen, swatted an opposite-field single to left. The flare fell just out of the reach of a sprinting Galvis. It was career hit No. 2,949 for Ichiro, now 51 away from 3,000. The pinch-hit also had significance because it gave Miami two runners on and one out in a three-run game.
• Velasquez is used to posting big strikeout numbers. He fanned 16 Padres in a win on April 14. In the third inning, Velasquez achieved a rarity when he struck out Prado, who had gone 59 at-bats between striking out.
• The Marlins picked an opportune time to challenge a close play at third base. Joseph was on third in the sixth inning, and with the Phillies up by three, Miami asked for a replay review on catcher Jeff Mathis' pickoff attempt of Joseph, who dove back into the base as Prado applied the tag. The Marlins challenged the safe call, and after a review of one minute and 33 seconds, the ruling was the call on the field stands.

NEXT GAME:

Jeremy Hellickson (3-2, 4.12) takes the ball for the Phils in Wednesday's series finale. Philadelphia will be looking to secure its fourth straight series victory and seventh in its last eight. Hellickson was phenomenal his last time out, going seven innings and only surrendering two unearned runs to the Reds in a 3-2 win.

PHILS PHACTS:

Rookie Cleans Up – Less than 24 hours after receiving a standing ovation while standing on first base after his first big league hit, Tommy Joseph stepped on the bag again -- but didn't stay there very long. Joseph's second-inning solo homer bounced off the left-field foul pole, and the 24-year-old first baseman trotted around the Citizens Bank Park basepaths for the first time. The home run would be almost all the Phillies needed in a 3-1 victory over the Marlins on Tuesday night, but Joseph didn't stop there. He singled to right in the fourth and to center in the sixth, where Marcell Ozuna misplayed the ball and let Joseph get to third and Cesar Hernandez to score the Phillies' third and final run. By the time Jeanmar Gomez recorded the final out, when Joseph made a diving stop at first base, he was 3-for-4. "Tonight was all about Tommy Joseph and the bullpen," manager Pete Mackanin said. "It was nice to see Tommy get his first home run. He made that great play to end the game. Not much more you can ask for from him." Not since 2009 has a Phillies player homered in a multihit effort within his first three Major League games. It's been done 11 times in franchise history, but the last to do so was John Mayberry Jr., going 2-for-3 against the Yankees on May 23, 2009. Joseph's big night gets even larger when put into context. Mackanin threw him into the cleanup hole because, "Why not?" he joked pregame. But Joseph gave his manager a better answer going forward. "I didn't expect that," Joseph said of seeing his name in the No. 4 slot on the lineup card. "To hit cleanup for this team, which is playing pretty well right now, it's pretty awesome." Only three times this season has a Phillies No. 4 hitter recorded three hits in a game -- Joseph joining Maikel Franco, who had three singles against the Padres on April 11, and Ryan Howard, who enjoyed a 3-for-5 night against the Indians on April 29. In 202 games since the start of 2015, it's now only been done 10 times. Despite the big game, Mackanin said the plan is to stick to the platoon at first base with Howard. Joseph, however, likely won't get pulled against righty relievers like Darin Ruf did. The rookie can hit right-handers, but it's important to Mackanin to keep Howard in the lineup, too. "I might mix in Joseph against a couple of right-handers here and there," Mackanin said. "But Howie's still a big a part of the team. We all know what he's capable of doing. It's nice to see Joseph add some offense to the team, but we'll just play it a day at a time." The Marlins' Wei-Yin Chen is the last lefty starter the Phillies will face for the foreseeable future, but Joseph will get his chances against righties when the Phils head to Detroit a series from now, where he and Howard will share first base and designated hitter duties.

Continues To Show Promise – Opportunity came early for the Marlins on Tuesday night, when they put runners on second and third with no outs in the first inning against hard-throwing Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez. But as quickly as the chance to break through came, it went away. Velasquez pitched out of the jam, and Miami was scrambling to simply make contact the rest of the way in a 3-1 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. "It's one of those times," manager Don Mattingly said. "You never know what changes the game, or where the momentum slips away. He gets off the hook there. It would have been nice to put a couple up." The big inning, and the big hit, eluded the Marlins throughout. They ended up striking out 17 times, which matched the franchise record for most K's in a nine-inning game. It's been done four times now, with the last being on April 10, 2014, at Washington. Velasquez, who had his pitch count run up, fanned 10 in five innings. "To win a game when your starter throws over 100 pitches in five innings is really a bonus," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. The Marlins avoided being shut out for the first time this year, pushing a run across in the ninth inning on Derek Dietrich's sacrifice fly. In the first inning, Dietrich singled to open the game. He went to third on Martin Prado's double to left. The inning quickly turned after that. Christian Yelich stung a sharp grounder to short. Even though the Phillies were playing their middle infielders deep, conceding a run on a grounder, Dietrich held at third. "We're definitely going on contact," Mattingly said. "The one thing that ball does is it comes off the bat, not on the ground. It comes off on that low one-hopper at short, so it's a little tweener read. Obviously, we want to be moving on that ball, but Deet kind of froze there." Giancarlo Stanton struck out and the inning ended on Justin Bour's pop foul to third. "We've got to score there," Yelich said. "That's something you've got to take advantage of early off the bat, and we didn't. It came back and cost us." The Marlins stranded 10 and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. It was the second straight game in which the club wasn't able to break through for a big inning. In Monday's 5-3 win, the Marlins left 12 on base and went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. "After the first three [innings], we didn't really seem to have the same type of at-bats," Mattingly said.

Goeddel Capitalizing – Pete Mackanin had exhausted all his options to extract any bit of offensive production from his corner outfield spots. Cedric Hunter had been optioned to Triple-A. Darin Ruf followed a few weeks later. So why not put some faith into the player taken No. 1 in this year's Rule 5 Draft? Since May 4, Tyler Goeddel has started all but two games in left field. And the vote of confidence from the Phillies manager is paying off. Goeddel entered Tuesday with a four-game hitting streak and has hit safely in six of the past seven games. While serving a limited role to start the season, Goeddel was hitting .160 (4-for-25) with nothing more than a single. He sat for three straight games leading up to May 4. The 23-year-old outfielder has raised his batting average 80 points since the calendar turned, hitting .303 to bring his season average up to .241. "To get regular playing time and confidence is huge," Goeddel said. "Coming to the field every day to see myself in the lineup, it's a feeling I didn't have last month. It's a lot more relaxing, less stressful." The month of April marked the first time Goeddel had spent any time above Double-A in his professional career. Playing sporadically only made the transition more difficult. "I'm sure after his season was over, he never thought he'd be in the big leagues this year," Mackanin said. "It's not easy to make the adjustment. It's a little overwhelming. I think that's what happened to him." Now that Goeddel is seeing pitchers for a second time, he's able to make adjustments -- just as they're doing to him. Goeddel found that he was late on the majority of fastballs he faced. So he began starting his leg kick earlier. He's also working on eliminating wrapping his hands as he starts his swing to get his bat into the zone faster. Prior to May 4, Goeddel whiffed on 26 percent of the fastballs he saw. He's swung and missed on only 6 percent of fastballs since then, putting 32 percent of them in play, compared to just 9 percent during the first month of the season. "You need to hit the fastball if you're going to play up here, and I feel I've made that adjustment," Goeddel said. It will be a year of adjustments for Goeddel. He faces the same challenge as every other young player: The more film opposing pitchers get, the better they can adjust to the hitter. It's a battle for who can stay ahead of the other, and Goeddel has the upper hand for now. Mackanin said he even considered moving Goeddel up to the second slot in the Phillies' batting order. On a team that's scored four or more runs just twice in its last 20 games, Mackanin will ride the hot hand as long as he can.

Today In Phils History – During a double header in 1929, during which Chuck Klein hit homeruns in each game, the Phillies and Dodgers combine to score 50 runs and split the twin billing. 35 years later, in 1964, Jim Bunning threw a 1 hitter against Houston… Don Hoak was released that same day. In 2000, Mark McGwire victimized the Phillies once again going deep 3 times (the second time he had done so as a visitor) ending the game with 539 homeruns, 8^th all time, after passing Mickey Mantle at 536. 5 year later, Bobby Abreu hit a homerun extending his team record streak of consecutive games with an extra base hit to 11. He was only 1 of four players in the history of the game to do so and the first since 1920. The homerun also tied a franchise record giving Abreu an RBI in 10 straight games.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 23-17 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 45-57-0 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. Let the rebuild begin!

LONG Homeruns Bury Phillies

GAME RECAP: Fish Fluster Phils 6-4

Giancarlo Stanton picked an appropriate time to connect on the longest home run tracked by Statcast™ this season. The three-time All-Star blistered a two-run homer in the eighth inning on Friday night that launched the Marlins to a 6-4 win over the Phillies at Marlins Park. The blast was projected to travel 475 feet with an exit velocity of 113 mph. It ran Miami's win streak to four, as the club has won 11 of 12. "They hit them. They don't get cheap shots, do they?" Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. The Marlins struck quickly off Vince Velasquez, scoring twice in each of the first two innings. Christian Yelich tagged him for a two-run homer in the first, and J.T. Realmuto and Martin Prado each had two-out RBI singles, putting Miami ahead 4-0. But the Phillies stormed back against Wei-Yin Chen, who allowed the leadoff batter to reach in each of his five innings. "The momentum switched pretty quickly," Stanton said. "You feel like you're in total control, and then they come back. Usually, that's when the other team keeps it going and wins. So, it was good to put a hold on that and come up big like that." Philadelphia hammered out 11 hits off Chen, tying it at 4 on Maikel Franco's opposite-field homer to open the fifth. "They were pitching me away and I hit the ball [that way]," Franco said. "That's what I'm going to try to continue to do and see what happens."

PHILS PHACTS:

• Batting in the No. 8 spot, Velasquez beat out an infield single with two outs in the fourth inning. It allowed Peter Bourjos to bat with runners at first and second. Bourjos promptly lined a double down the left-field line, scoring both Freddy Galvis, who had opened the frame with a single, and Velasquez to cut the Marlins' lead to 4-3. "I had to help myself out, get on base and get another run on my end and help the team out," Velasquez said. "It's a team thing here. It's a tough loss, but we'll get them tomorrow."
• In the sixth, third baseman Franco went to his right to backhand a line drive off the bat of Chris Johnson, turning it into an inning-ending double play with a quick throw to second. It was just an inning earlier that Franco hit the first pitch for a home run to tie the game at 4. "Every single day I try to put a lot of focus on [my defense]," Franco said. "I try to be ready every single pitch to help my team on offense and defense."

NEXT GAME:

Jeremy Hellickson gets the start for the Phillies at 7:10 p.m. ET on Saturday. Hellickson looks to rebound from his last outing, when he gave up six runs on seven hits, including three homers, over 5 1/3 innings in St. Louis.

PHILS PHACTS:

Location, Location, Location! – Phillies starter Vince Velasquez struggled in the first two innings, digging himself into an early hole that cost him. Though the Phillies fought back to tie it, the Marlins prevailed, 6-4, on Giancarlo Stanton's titanic two-run homer in the eighth inning. Velasquez, a 23-year-old right-hander, went six innings for the no-decision, giving up four runs on seven hits, including an upper-deck homer to Christian Yelich. He struck out five batters and walked one. Of his 90 pitches, 64 were strikes. Velasquez bounced back after the shaky start to retire 10 consecutive batters, allowing just one hit over his final three innings of work. "Velasquez was a different pitcher after the second inning," manager Pete Mackanin said. "He looked like who he really is. They were all over his fastball [early]. He didn't locate it, and they're a good fastball-hitting team. They've been winning. They've been swinging the bats extremely well." How did he manage to turn things around so quickly? "Keep my composure and not let things get out of hand anymore than they did," Velasquez said. "And then kind of let things go. Things happen. It was a rough start. You can't get behind in the count and then miss locations. Shutting down [the next] 10 guys was something that led me to get the guys back in the dugout and get something going." Velasquez said that he takes full responsibility for the early struggles and had to go back into the clubhouse after the second inning to regroup. "Missed locations. All that falls on my end," Velasquez said. "So you have to figure something out, and you have to change. Do whatever you have to do to prevent that." Velasquez was not himself in the first two innings. "That pitch to Yelich was horrible," Velasquez said. "It was literally on the opposite side of where I was trying to go. Just yanked it, and he hit it out."

Change Is Good – Searching for ways to get his team out of its doldrums offensively, manager Pete Mackanin shook up Friday's lineup with everything from hitting Freddy Galvis fifth for the first time in his career to batting pitcher Vince Velasquez eighth rather than in the traditional ninth spot. It worked, to a degree. The Phillies outhit the Marlins, 12-10, but they still came up short in a 6-4 loss at Marlins Park. "We're last in the league in hitting, [so] I've got to try to do something," Mackanin said. "Freddy's driven in some big runs, and Cesar [Hernandez] likes to hit second, so I went back to that. I just think Freddy might be better off in an RBI spot." Galvis delivered two hits and scored a run to extend his hitting streak at Marlins Park to nine games. He was one of four Phillies with multiple hits. Maikel Franco doubled and homered, driving in two runs. His solo blast on the first pitch of the fifth inning brought the Phillies all the way back from a 4-0 deficit to a 4-4 tie. But Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton provided the game-winner in the eighth inning -- a 475-foot two-run blast, the longest home run of the 2016 season. Leadoff hitter Odubel Herrera collected three hits, all singles, to run his season hit total to 34, which leads all National League center fielders. Peter Bourjos, playing right field and hitting ninth, went 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and a run. Velasquez even got in on the act with a fourth-inning single that Bourjos followed with his two-run double. Despite the outburst, the Phillies still left eight runners on base. "I believe we're going to get better as the season goes on," Mackanin said.

Early League Leader – Cameron Rupp is the hardest hitter in the Major Leagues. That's according to Statcast™, which revealed that the Phillies' catcher had the highest average exit velocity (97.5 mph) on batted balls in play among all big leaguers this season, entering Friday's 6-4 loss to the Marlins. For reference, Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton led the Majors with a 98.5 mph average in 2015. Stanton also launched one off his bat at 120.1 mph against Washington's Joe Ross for a single in a game on April 10 this season. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said he isn't a bit surprised: "He hits the ball hard." Despite Stanton's prowess, velocity doesn't always translate into long balls. Rupp hit just one homer in his first 64 at-bats this season. Mackanin explained why. "Exit speed off the bat just means you can hit the ball hard," Mackanin said. "Trajectory off the bat is more important [in hitting homers]." Either way, Rupp has been making solid contact. "That's pretty cool, I guess," Rupp said of the stat. "I wish it gave me more hits. I'm just trying to make good contact. It seems like I've been pretty consistent with it." Rupp's approach is simple: See ball, hit ball. "I'm just looking for a pitch I can drive, something I can handle in the zone, and when it's there, I don't miss it," Rupp said. "It's just one of those things where if it's a pitch I can handle and I recognize it, I just let it go, and it finds the barrel." Rupp said he's seeing the ball well right now. "When I'm making contact, it seems like good, solid contact," Rupp said. Rupp doesn't concern himself with having just one homer. Besides, Rupp slugged eight long balls in his final 38 games of last season, his first full year in the big leagues, after hitting just one dinger through the first 65 games of his Major League career. Seven doubles in his first 17 games is perhaps a more telling stat than his current home run production. "I'm hitting the ball well," Rupp said. "Home runs will come when they come. I'm just going up there trying to drive the ball in the gap [and] drive some runs in when I have the opportunity."

Minor Awards – The Phillies have some of the most highly regarded prospects at shortstop, catcher, outfield and on the mound. Two of their top second base prospects had a heck of an April. The Phillies announced on Friday that Class A Lakewood second baseman Josh Tobias, Double-A Reading right-hander Ben Lively and Class A Clearwater second baseman Scott Kingery were named the organization's Minor League hitter, pitcher and defender of the month, respectively. Tobias, 23, batted .347 with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 19 RBIs, 12 walks and a 1.022 OPS in 20 games. Lively, 24, went 3-0 with a 1.55 ERA (five earned runs in 29 innings), 30 strikeouts, 0.90 WHIP and a .189 opponents' batting average. Kingery, 22, played 180 innings without an error and helped turn nine double plays. Kingery, rated the organization's 11th-best prospect by MLBPipeline.com, and Tobias are worth watching as Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez has posted a .661 OPS in 809 career plate appearances through Friday, including a .639 mark in 101 plate appearances this season. The Phillies selected Kingery in the second round of the 2015 Draft. They took Tobias in the 10th round. Kingery has started to hit the ball much better after struggling with Lakewood last season, when he had a .652 OPS in 282 plate appearances. He is hitting .269 with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, four RBIs, nine stolen bases, 12 walks, 14 strikeouts and a .779 OPS in 118 plate appearances. He has not been caught stealing. "Scott Kingery is hitting about as hard a .270 as you can hit," player development director Joe Jordan said. "He really, really has been swinging the bat well. He's a really good looking player. I just watched that club and I was really impressed. He can do a lot of things on the baseball field. But from a defensive standpoint, he's got tremendous feet. He's got really good hands and an above-average arm for a second baseman." Tobias hit safely in 15 of 20 games, and he has batted .611 (11-for-18) with six extra-base hits against left-handers. "Josh has done nothing but hit," Jordan said. "Sitting in the Draft room last year and listening to the scouts discuss him, this is a guy we targeted, and I think they just kind of waited until the right time to take him. [Director of amateur scouting] Johnny [Almaraz] and his guys played the draft perfectly. Josh can hit. He's a legitimate offensive prospect. His bat is ready for probably a bigger challenge than we have in front of him right now." Tobias has committed six errors in 196 innings. "He's making progress defensively," Jordan said. The Phillies acquired Lively from the Reds in December 2014 for Marlon Byrd. He went 8-7 with a 4.13 ERA in 25 starts last season with Reading, but so far he has been much more effective. He is 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA in six starts in 2016. "He's made some adjustments, which is more delivery related than anything," Jordan said. "He's hit on a couple of things that has really helped his fastball command. His breaking ball his sharper. He's just a better pitcher right now than he was last year."

Today In Phils History – There is a bit of a dubious start to this day in Phillies history as Jesse Barnes of the Giants no hit the Phillies in 1922. Nearly a century later, in 2010, Jamie Moyer became the oldest player to throw a complete game shutout. Well, it almost balances things out. However, the opposites continue as on the same day that the Phillies acquired Dick Allen and Johnny Oates from the Braves, Garry Maddox made his Phillies debut. Exactly eleven years to the day later, at age 36, Maddox retires with the third most career gold gloves as an outfielder behind Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 16-14 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 42-51-0 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!

Howard Wins It For The Phillies In The 11th

GAME RECAP: Phillies Stun Indians 4-3

If you blinked, you might have missed it. After 10 1/2 innings of play and nearly 3 1/2 hours, Ryan Howard ended Friday night's game at Citizens Bank Park on one pitch. The veteran first baseman lined a 3-2 pitch from Cody Allen over the right-field wall to give the Phillies a 4-3, 11-inning win over the Indians. "It felt good," Howard said. "I put the fat part of the bat on the ball, and the rest took care of itself." At only two points were the Indians and Phillies anything but tied. The two clubs matched zeros for the first four innings of play, before they each scored three runs in the fifth. But while Adam Morgan unraveled the third time through the Cleveland order and exited after allowing three runs, Corey Kluber bounced back from his three-run fifth to retire the final six Phillies he faced. Only two of the runs Kluber allowed in the fifth were earned. Both teams' bullpens put forth impressive efforts, combining to allow only one run, but the Phillies' outlasted the Indians'. Philadelphia's 'pen struck out 11 over six scoreless frames. The Indians' relievers matched their opponent's impressive efforts through their first three, but Howard put the winning run over the wall to lead off the 11th inning. "When you're on the road, you're always kind of playing with fire," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "Because they get to hit last." It was the Phillies' fourth straight win and seventh in their last eight games. At 13-10, they're three games above .500 for the first time since Sept. 21, 2012. "It's a lot of fun. This is the most excited I've seen these guys in two years with the team," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.

PHILS PHACTS:

• It looked as though the Phillies were going to get a run in 10th. Facing Jeff Manship, Philadelphia loaded the bases with one out. But Francona went to his closer, Allen, with the circumstances dire. Allen struck out Freddy Galvis to end the Phillies' rally before getting Maikel Franco to ground out to end the frame. "Cody came in and did such a good job to get out of that and give us another chance," Francona said. The next batter he faced -- Howard, the next inning -- ended the game, though. "He caught too much of the plate to Howard," Francona continued. "That's not the first time [Howard] has done that."
• Morgan was cruising in his first Major League start of the season and had sat down nine straight when Kluber came up with two outs in the fifth. After Kluber's double and Davis' following RBI single, Jason Kipnis lifted a 1-2 Morgan offering over the right-field wall to make it a three-run inning. Morgan struck out the next batter, Francisco Lindor, his seventh strikeout on the last batter he faced. "It was a slider that wasn't low enough," Morgan said of the pitch Kipnis hit over the fence.
• Phillies pitchers combined for 18 strikeouts on Friday night, setting a new season high. Eleven of those punchouts came from their bullpen, which threw six scoreless innings in relief of Morgan, who notched a career-best seven strikeouts. The Phillies now have 240 strikeouts on the season, the most in the Majors. 
• When Davis drove Kluber home from second in the fifth inning, it snapped the Phillies' 26-inning scoreless streak. The last time Philadelphia had a streak that long was Sept. 13-16, 2009. The Phillies own two of the three longest scoreless streaks of the 2016 season: the aforementioned 26 innings and a 19-inning run from April 11-13. The Dodgers' 31-inning streak to begin the season leads baseball.

NEXT GAME:

Jerad Eickhoff will start for the Phillies on Saturday in the second game of their Interleague series with Cleveland. Eickhoff has a 4.07 ERA through four starts this season, but his last start saw him give up seven runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Brewers. Eickhoff is hoping to look more like the pitcher he was in his first three games, during which he had a 1.89 ERA.

PHILS PHACTS:

What Year Is This? – Ryan Howard hit a walk-off home run as the Phillies continued their winning ways on Friday night. It felt like the good old days at Citizens Bank Park. Howard, the longest-tenured member of a young Phillies roster, was reminiscent of his former MVP self in a 4-3, 11-inning win over the Indians, the Phillies' seventh victory in their last eight and their fourth straight overall. He went 3-for-5 with a double and a line-drive homer off Cleveland closer Cody Allen. "I think you savor it at any moment in your career, whether you're a rookie, whether you're a veteran, and those are always great situations to be in and come through for your team," Howard said. And this current team is playing better than any team Howard -- in his 13th Major League season -- has been on in the last few seasons. At 13-10, the Phillies are three games over the .500 mark for the first time since Sept. 21, 2012, when they were 77-74. Only Howard, Carlos Ruiz, Freddy Galvis and Darin Ruf remain from that roster. "I'm having a blast. The team itself is having a good time," Howard said. "… There's a different energy, and you could feel that at the end in Spring Training. And the way everything's been going, it's great." Friday's three-hit performance was also Howard's best showing so far in the 2016 season. In what was just his second multi-hit game of the year, Howard cranked his fifth home run and first double. He upped his average from .185 to .214, and that double was the first hit in what turned into a three-run fifth inning. "He hasn't been swinging the bat very well, and he got a couple hits earlier in the game," Phillies manager Pete Makanin said of Howard. "Any time you hit a walk-off home run, it's exciting for everybody, and I'd like to see Howard do it another 25 times -- not necessarily a walk-off." Ruiz, who is next behind Howard in terms of service time in Philadelphia, drove Howard in with a double in the fifth. Ruiz is now hitting .297 this season, and though the Phillies' season will be mostly about their younger talent, their veterans are showing they can still make a difference.

Morgan Bolsters K Total – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said before Friday's game that Adam Morgan was not guaranteed a spot in the starting rotation moving forward. For the first 14 outs of his start, Morgan looked like a pitcher deserving of it in the Phillies' 4-3, 11-inning win. Morgan, a 26-year-old lefty, cruised through the first 4 2/3 innings of his first Major League start of the season, even retiring nine consecutive batters before Indians pitcher Corey Kluber stepped in to the batter's box with two outs in the fifth. What looked to likely be an innocent end to the inning turned into trouble. Kluber -- in just his 15th Major League at-bat -- hit a double down the left-field line and scored the game's first run when leadoff man Rajai Davis singled him home. Jason Kipnis followed that up with a home run, hitting a 1-2 slider from Morgan over the right-field fence to give Cleveland a 3-0 lead. Morgan's night ended on a sour note, but the pitcher was picked up. First by the Phillies offense, then by their bullpen. Philadelphia got Morgan off the hook with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and then a group of four relievers put together six scoreless innings, setting up Ryan Howard's walk-off home run in the 11th. "The energy is high and everyone is picking each other up, the way the bullpen did for me and those guys came out in the fifth inning and scored runs," said Morgan, who made 15 starts for the Phillies last season. Morgan was called up to replace Charlie Morton, the veteran sinkerballer who was recently lost for the season with a left hamstring injury. It looked like the southpaw did enough to earn himself another shot in the Phillies rotation, striking out a career-best seven batters over five innings. "I realized the mistakes that I made, and I can go forward from there," he said. Meanwhile, the Phillies' bullpen turned in another solid performance. Andrew Bailey, Elvis Araujo, Hector Neris and David Hernandez allowed just one hit and struck out 11 in six innings. Bailey and Hernandez each had four punchouts, while Neris had the other three. Phillies pitchers lead the Majors with 240 strikeouts on the season. The 18 strikeouts by the Phillies were the most they've had as a team since May 30, 2014, against the Mets, a game that went 14 innings. Morgan also helped the Phillies pitching staff run its scoreless streak to 26 innings, the franchise's longest since Sept. 13-16, 2009. While the streak was snapped in the fifth, the bullpen got another one underway in a hurry. "We were confident that the guys we had were capable pitchers, and we felt they were capable of doing what they're doing," Mackanin said. "To see them doing what we thought they were capable of doing is a good feeling. We have guys in the Minors that we're excited about, also, but these guys out here, are we leading the league in strikeouts? It's outstanding."

Today In Phils History – In addition to some unique names appearing on Phillies lineup cards on this day including Spud Davis (1928) and Delmon Young (2013) as well as some nice additions made to the team when they traded for Pinky Whitney in 1936 and acquired Andy Seminick and Jim Greengrass (for a package that included Smoky Burgess) in 1955, there have been some unique games in the history of the franchise on this day. The first of such games came in 1887 when the Phillies beat New York in the first game at what would later be known as the Baker Bowl. In 1919, the Phillies played Brooklyn to 9-9 tie in 20 innings after each team scored three runs in the 19^th. In 1961 manager Gene Mauch, in an unusual move, used a team record 5 pinch hitters in the 8^th inning to score 7 runs. The Phillies would go on to beat St. Louis in 10 innings. A year later, in 1962, the Phillies finally defeated Warren Spahn ending an 11 game losing streak against the Milwaukee ace that dated back to May of 1959.  

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 13-10 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 41-49-3 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!