His team has the second lowest run total in baseball. The Phillies had scored two or fewer runs in six of their previous seven games.iphone 5c replacement screen The manager was running out of answers to a tired question. And finally on Friday, he did not have to hear it posed again.
The Phillies scored at least five for just the third time in their last 20 games. The win snapped a seven game losing streak.
The three run innings they pieced together in the third and fourth could be categorized as offensive onslaughts for the 2016 Phillies. They homered twice at Citizens Bank Park for the first time this season. The Phillies have yet to score four runs in an inning this year. That is a question to be answered another day.
"Any time we score six runs it's a big deal around here," Mackanin said. "I'm hoping that this is going to get us going a little bit. Loosen us up a bit. We'll go from there."
Cameron Rupp led off the third with a homer to right. Maikel Franco, who homered on Thursday, drove in a run with a two out bloop single to left. Franco has 12 hits in his last 40 at bats. He is batting .320 this season with runners in scoring position.
Tommy Joseph kept the inning alive with a single. He finished 2 for 4 to record his second consecutive multi hit game. He has 10 hits in his last 33 at bats as he continues to make his case for the starting role at first base. Jimmy Paredes followed with a single to tack on another run. Andres Blanco slugged a three run homer to right with two outs in the fourth inning.
"We had a lot of energy," Rupp said. "At some point it was going to turn. We haven't been able to sustain a rally very well this year.iphone 5c replacement screen It's no secret. But we did it."
The offensive outburst surely helped Vince Velasquez, who labored through 41/3 innings. He allowed only two runs, but he has not been able to pitch deep into games. The pitcher exhausted himself with a 30 pitch second inning. Velasquez has been hindered this season by high pitch counts. Friday proved no different. The righthander threw 94 pitches and was pulled after loading the bases with one out in the fifth inning.
Velasquez has not pitched more than five innings in his last four starts. He has not pitched more than six innings since tossing a 16 strikeout shutout on April 14.
Mackanin said Velasquez thought he had everything figured out after that incredible afternoon. The manager could not blame him for thinking that way. Velasquez will continue to improve with time, Mackanin said.
"It's one of those stages where you're dealing with adversity," Velasquez said. "You have to enjoy the failure. You have to fight through it. It's getting the best of me. My only job is to work on it tomorrow, go back to film and see what I have to do."
The Phillies did not score again after Blanco's three run blast. But it was enough thanks to the bullpen. Andrew Bailey escaped Velasquez's jam, allowing just one of the three inherited runners to score. He pitched a scoreless seventh and has not allowed an earned run in his last seven outings.
David Hernandez, Hector Neris, and Jeanmar Gomez took care of the rest. The Phillies had their first win in nine days. And the manager had some fresh questions to ponder.
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