June 04, 2016
Derik Hamilton/AP
Former prospect Jonathan Villar has been killing the Phillies this series.
Another day, another starting pitcher who failed to go deep into a ballgame for the Phillies. On Friday night, it was Vince Velasquez who couldn't get out of the fifth inning despite throwing 94 pitches in a 6-3 win over the Brewers.
On Saturday afternoon, it was Jeremy Hellickson’s turn to try give the bullpen a little break.
Unfortunately, they would need to put in work again after the Phillies starter lasted just five innings and squandered an early two-run lead thanks to offense's only contribution all day.
But it wasn’t that Hellickson was having a bad outing.
He scattered three runs over those five innings on seven hits, including a leadoff home run by Jonathan Villar, but needed 108 pitches to do so. That’s largely due to the fact that just 64 of those pitches were for strikes and the Brewers, to their credit, made the 29-year-old righty work deep into a few counts on a hot day at Citizens Bank Park.
"It was just one of those days," Hellickson said in the clubhouse. "My command just wasn't where it's been the last handful of starts. When I was getting ahead of guys, I was just getting too much plate on my 0-2 and 1-2 pitches. Just wasn't as aggressive as I've been."
Still, Hellickson, who walked three and struck out four, exited the game with his team tied, 3-3, and in no worse a position to take the third game of this four-game series. But it was not meant to be as Hector Neris surrendered an eighth-inning leadoff home run to Domingo Santana, putting the Brewers up, 4-3, and up for good.
Milwaukee would add two more runs in the top of the ninth off Andrew Bailey and go on to beat the Phillies, 6-3.
All three of the Phillies runs came in the second inning, starting with a solo home run to dead center field from first baseman Tommy Joseph, his fourth of the year.
Then, after Tyler Goeddel hit a stand-up triple, it was Cesar Hernandez's turn, as he launched a home run of his own into the ivy beyond the center field fence. After the game, Hernandez said manager Pete Mackanin joked that seeing him hit a ball that far was going to "make him faint."
The homer from Hernandez, who said he was just trying to score Goeddel on a sacrifice fly and was surprised at how far the ball carried, gave the Phillies (27-29) an early 3-1 lead.
It was the first time all season the Phillies hit two home runs in the same inning. A day earlier, they hit two home runs in the same game for the first time all season at CBP.
Yes, it took them until June to accomplish both of those not-so-impressive feats.
That becomes less surprising if you watched the Phillies offense over the final seven innings of the game. The Phillies managed just six hits on the day -- just three after the second inning and only one (a Hernandez single in the ninth) from the sixth inning on.
"It looked like we were in for a good day offensively," Mackanin added, "but then we just shut down."
Hellickson, who was unable to hold the two-run lead his team gave him, was given a no-decision, after he surrendered a run each in the fourth and fifth innings, allowing the Brewers to tie the game and ultimately spelling the end of his day.
"That's the biggest frustration right now, just not being able to give us six or seven inning," Hellickson said. "The bullpen worked hard last night and got us the win. And that was the goal today, just try to give those guys a little bit of rest and I just threw way too many pitches to do that."
• Tommy Joseph's second-inning home run came off righty Junior Guerra. It was his fourth of the season and his third off a righty. That's good news for manager Pete Mackanin, who decided to bench Ryan Howard earlier this week in order to give Joseph a chance to play every day. Originally, Mackanin said it would be for the next three or four games -- today was the fourth -- unless Joseph proved that he deserved to play every day (meaning he was comfortable, and successful, hitting right-handed pitching).
Last 4 games: 5-for-16 (.313), 3 SO, 0 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI
But although Howard wasn't officially benched until Wednesday, Saturday's game marks the seventh in row in which Joseph has played (five starts), which gives us a slightly larger sample size to examine.
Last 7 games: 6-for-22 (.273), 4 SO, 0 BB, 2 HR, 2 R, 2RBI
It's not great, but it's certainly better than what they've been getting out of Howard.
After the game, Mackanin said that Joseph will start at least the next two games -- Sunday vs. Brewers and Monday vs. John Lester and the Cubs -- before we start seeing Howard sprinkled in again.
"Great," Mackanin said when asked how he thought Joseph's looked since he started playing every day. "He looks like he belongs here."
• It was a pair of former prospects that came back to bite the Phillies on Saturday. Jonathan Villar and Domingo Santana both homered in the Brewers' 4-3 win. Villar, who also homered in Friday night's game, finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. He got the scoring started with a leadoff home run, while Santana, who finished 1-for-2 with a walk, put Milwaukee ahead for good with a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning.
• Hector Neris, who was hit with the loss, might be broken. After allowing just four runs in his first 26 appearances (or 28 innings) this season, the Phillies reliever has now allowed four runs over his last four outings (or 3.2 innings), including the game-winning run on Saturday (the aforementioned Santana home run). That's ... not good.
"The last two times out -- and he did a hell of a job the other night with bases loaded but -- he just doesn't look the same," Mackanin said. "He looks a little more tentative and I don't know why that is. He's just going through a period. Hitters go through slumps, and so do pitchers at times. I'm not worried about him, but I just wonder why he's taking more time between pitches."
Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin
