“It looked to me that he kind of relaxed after making the All-Star team, and kind of said, ‘OK, I’m here and now I’m good, ‘” Mackanin continued the other day.
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“I’m just trying to take advantage of it”, Morgan said. “He’s a guy that’s been able to work in the zone and the bottom of the zone and trust his stuff and not feel like he has to be ideal”. The Redbirds posted nine hits with Jeremy Hazelbaker cracking a two run homer.
“It’s not the only way we can score runs, but it’s our main way”, said Moss. “It’s nice to have guys in the lineup who can change a game like that”.
The Cardinals, which won the first game of the series before losing on Saturday, scored a run in the first, three in the fourth, another in the fifth and four in the eighth to take the series. The Cardinals tied the mark with a pair of homers Friday night.
The best that can be said for Velasquez’s performance is that he pitched six innings for the first time in four starts this month. “I thought today might be a day, especially when Hazelbaker hit one early. You could it the way guys were taking their at-bats there was an opportunity to maybe do it again”. Velasquez has now lost each of his last three starts, with 19 earned runs and eight home runs surrended in 16 1/3 innings.
What was manager Pete Mackanin’s message to the 24-year-old Velasquez after the game?
Hellickson (10-7), the lone veteran arm in Philadelphia’s rotation, became the first Phillies starter to complete seven innings since July 26 – a span of 21 games.
“That was what the doctor ordered”, Mackanin said. The right-hander left his last start on August 10 in Los Angeles with back tightness. He pumped his fist into his glove after striking out pinch-hitter Greg Garcia to finish the seventh.
Vince Velasquez will try to break out of a recent funk this afternoon, with a 1:35 p.m ET first pitch at Citizens Bank Park. “It was good to save the bullpen tonight. I was just getting ahead and kept the fastball down for the most part”.
Jeanmar Gomez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 33rd save in 37 opportunities.
Phillies first. Odubel Herrera singles to right field.
The Phillies went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The Phillies have gotten Hernandez to level his swing midseason, and he is batting.350 since June 27.
His seven strong innings saved the bullpen one night after an 11-inning game.
“If the back shoulder drops when you are hitting, your swing doesn’t level out”, Mackanin said. You’re seeing some unusual swings because the ball was moving a lot for him today, and I thought he used his changeup well.
Cameron Rupp put Philadelphia in front 2-0 with a broken-bat RBI single to left.
Since Carpenter moved from the first spot in the lineup to third, Cardinals leadoff men have hit just.250 with two walks in six games. Velasquez comes off a 15-5 loss to the Dodgers with five runs allowed on seven hits including three homers in 5.2 frames.
Jhonny Peralta led off the 11th with a double and, two batters later, Grichuk doubled to the wall in left-center off Frank Herrmann (0-1).
Rangers 6, Rays 2 – At St. Petersburg, Fla.: Adrian Beltre led off consecutive innings with home runs and Cole Hamels didn’t give up a hit until the sixth in Texas’ victory over Tampa Bay.
For the Phillies (58-67), the loss was a disappointing end to a homestand that began 3-0 but ended up 5-4 as Velasquez struggled for the second time in as many games.
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Phillies: Start a five-game road trip on Tuesday night at the White Sox.
