Phillies' bats stay cold in loss to Marlins

Phillies’ bats stay cold in loss to Marlins

Theo DeRosa

May 29 2017

By Theo DeRosa, Sports Talk Philly staff

Final: Marlins 4, Phillies 1

PHILADELPHIA — Add Edinson Vólquez to the list: a cavalcade of struggling pitchers who, in the past two weeks or so, have been slotted for a start against the Phillies, and pitched their best game of the season.

Some less-than-impressive names comprise the list: Chad Kuhl. Tyler Chatwood. Jeff Hoffman. Germán Márquez. Tyler Anderson. Tim Adleman. Even Bronson Arroyo, and his 84 mph fastball, did manage a win on Sunday, despite allowing three solo shots.

But on Monday in Miami, it was the 33-year-old Vólquez, who entered the game with an earned run average of 4.82. He was the latest subpar starter to stymie the Phillies' offense in another loss in an abysmal May, going six innings and allowing just one run.

And one more thing: Monday's victory was just Vólquez's first win of 2017.

WP: Edinson Vólquez (1-7, 4.44) ❖ LP: Jeremy Hellickson (5-3, 4.45) ❖ S: A. J. Ramos (6)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PHI	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	1
MIA	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	7	0

Howie Kendrick, activated from the 10-day DL on Monday after missing nearly the entire season, singled and stole second. Tommy Joseph followed with a two-out walk, but those were the only baserunners Vólquez allowed in the game's first five innings. The Marlins' starter's next misstep was walking Hellickson on five pitches to start the sixth.

Miami financed its starter's impressive outing with two runs in the third inning. Vólquez bunted J. T. Riddle to second before Dee Gordon stroked a double down the line. Gordon, known for his speed, streaked home on Giancarlo Stanton's single up the middle that beat the shift.

Vólquez faltered in the sixth as César Hernández doubled into the gap to put runners on second and third with no one out. Aaron Altherr roped a one-out single to cut the Marlins' lead in half. Altherr was caught stealing second. (On replay, it seemed he was never tagged. The Phils had just used their challenge on a Tommy Joseph foul ball the team thought had dropped fair.) It was Vólquez's last inning, as he was replaced by Jarlín García for the seventh.

With two outs and two strikes in the sixth, Hellickson ceded a line-drive single to Marlins catcher J. T. Realmuto. It was promptly followed by a two-run homer from Derek Dietrich to push the lead up to three runs, another example of the incredible difficulties the Phillies have had getting out of innings with two outs and even with two strikes.

Dietrich's homer resulted in a pitching change after the sixth, as Joely Rodríguez took over on the mound. He and Mark Leiter, Jr. pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, respectively.

García, Nick Wittgren, Kyle Barraclough and Ramos combined to shut out the Phillies and send them to yet another loss, 4-1 the final score. If the Phils don't manage wins on Tuesday and Wednesday, they'll be headed for their tenth straight series loss and will snap Miami's current streak of 11.

The second game of the three-game series will be at 7:10 p.m. once again. Right-hander Vince Velasquez, who had a solid outing his last time out, opposes Miami lefty Justin Nicolino. Nicolino has a win-loss record of 0-1 on the season and an ERA of 5.40, so draw your own conclusions about what to expect from tomorrow's ballgame.

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