The Philadelphia Phillies won their third straight game on Thursday afternoon, taking down the Padres 3-0. Their record improves to 5-5.
On The Mound
- Vince Velasquez turned in a sensational effort in his second start of the season, firing a complete game shutout and allowing just three hits.
- Velasquez dominated the San Diego batting order, striking out 16 batters on the day, including two in the ninth inning.
- Velasquez struck out nine of the final 12 batters he faced. His velocity still hit 96 mph in the ninth inning.
- Velasquez has yet to allow a run on the season.
At The Plate
- The Phillies generated three runs on just four hits.
- Ryan Howard supplied the majority of the offense today, hitting a solo homer in the third inning and knocking in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
- The team was able to tack on a third run in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to a wild pitch that allowed Andres Blanco to score.
- Cesar Hernandez went 0-4 at the top of the order, dropping his average to .294.
- Odubel Herrera went 0-1, but worked three walks on the game.
- Cameron Rupp was the catcher, and went 0-4.
- Maikel Franco went 0-4 with two strikeouts.
- Peter Bourjos went 1-2 with a double.
- Tyler Goeddel started in left field, and went 0-2.
Final Thoughts
Vince Velasquez.
What a start to his career in Philadelphia.
After winning the fifth starter job in Spring Training, Velasquez has been the team’s most effective starter over the first two weeks.
He was on the hill to anchor the Phils to their first victory last weekend in New York, and today he was there to close out the series against San Diego with a win.
Velasquez’s effort today was particularly significant because of the amount of work that the backend of the bullpen has been called upon to do recently. With David Hernandez and Jeanmar Gomez each working four times in the previous five games, it was critical for the team to give them both a day of rest, and Velasquez and his 16 strikeouts were more than up to the challenge.
The Phillies now find themselves at .500, and all of the sudden a very exciting series against the first-place Washington Nationals over the weekend.
Some nice young arms and a new energy at the ballpark with these young players. They are going to take their lumps, but these are exciting times.
Of the two major trades (hamels and giles) it really looks like we did well– giles is off to a tough start- as bugs says it is a new and fun vibe…
A couple of random baseball thoughts, opinions:
Has anyone seen the list of pitchers who has accomplished what Velasquez did yesterday? There are no shabby pitchers who have done what he did at his age– Woods and prior got hurt but the list is studly.
Remember when Castillo was the cuban player everyone wanted and the phils ended up not really being in serious contention for him? well he blows, just got sent to minors and is still owed like $60M– and he’s in his late 20’s… remember all the cries about how inept the phils were… too funny.
Finally, wouldn’t it be cool to watch the fightins hang in there for a lot of the summer???? I’m not saying contend but make other teams pay attention and not be guaranteed 2 out of 3 each series…. I love baseball!