Final: Phillies 4, Diamondbacks 3
WP: Elvis Araujo (1-0, 0.00 ERA) LP: Oliver Perez (1-1, 6.52 ERA) SV: Luis Garcia (1)
Philadelphia, PA – With all eyes on third baseman Maikel Franco making his 2015 debut, the Philadelphia Phillies' (14-23) late rally in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks (15-19) capped-off their third consecutive victory.
Over the first five innings tonight, the Phillies reached based just four times: two hits and two walks. Both of the hits were doubles by second baseman Chase Utley in the bottom of the second inning and by center fielder Odubel Herrera in the bottom of the fifth. The two walks occurred in the bottom of the third inning by catcher Carlos Ruiz and shortstop Freddy Galvis.
With the game scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Galvis reached base to lead off the inning after being hit by a pitch from Diamondbacks' starter Chase Anderson. The next batter, right fielder Grady Sizemore, walked on seven pitches to extend Anderson's pitch count to 99 pitches, 55 for strikes. Two pitches later, first baseman Ryan Howard doubled down the right field line, past Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, which scored Galvis for the first run of the night for either club.
In the top of the seventh, things started to unravel for Phillies' starter Chad Billingsley. Catcher Tuffy Gosewisch and shortstop Nick Ahmed walked and singled respectively to begin the frame. With slugger Mark Trumbo announced as the pinch-hitter, manager Ryne Sandberg pulled Billingsley after six-plus innings on the mound, his longest outing since August 19, 2012.
With Justin De Fratus coming on in relief of Billingsley, he managed to strike out Trumbo and retire right fielder Ender Inciarte for the first two outs of the seventh. A subsequent, two-out single and double from center fielder A.J. Pollock and Goldschmidt respectively brought home three runs for Arizona to give them a two-run lead. The first two runs were charged to Billingsley's line. Phillies left hander Elvis Araujo came in to strike out left fielder David Peralta to end the inning.
Philadelphia answered right back in the bottom of the seventh to regain the lead. Ruiz and Cesar Hernandez, who replaced Utley at second base in the top half of the inning, both singled off of right hander Daniel Hudson. Long-time New York Met, left hander Oliver Perez, then entered the game for Arizona. With Ben Revere at the plate, Perez threw a wild pitch to allow both runners to advance into scoring position with nobody out. The next batter, Galvis, hit a bloop single to left-center field to score both Ruiz and Hernandez to tie the game at three. Pinch-hitting for Sizemore, Jeff Francoeur singled off Enrique Burgos to score Galvis and give the Phillies a 4-3, late lead.
Right hander Luis Garcia threw two scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth inning to close out the first of a three game set. In the process, he recorded his first career save and drew the Phillies within 6.5 games of tying the Mets for first place in the National League East.
Game Notes:
- In the fifth appearance of his career, Araujo, 23, recorded his first career win.
- Tonight was the first save by a Phillies relief pitcher who threw two-plus innings since Ryan Madson's on September 29, 2009 against the Houston Astros.
- Franco went 0-4 with a strikeout and two runners left on base.
Starting Pitchers
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Anderson | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.81 |
| Chad Billingsley | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6.75 |
- Anderson: ND; 104 pitches, 59 strikes; 7 groundouts, 1 flyouts; 23 faced batters
- Billingsley: ND; 85 pitches, 57 strikes; 6 groundouts, 5 flyouts; 26 faced batters
Out of the 'Pen
Diamondbacks
- Andrew Chafin (6th): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 4.19 ERA
- Daniel Hudson (7th): 0.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 6.00 ERA
- Oliver Perez (7th): 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 6.52 ERA
- Enrique Burgos (7th, 8th): 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 4.15 ERA
Phillies
- Justin De Fratus (7th): 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 2.84 ERA
- Elvis Araujo (7th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Luis Garcia (8th, 9th): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 3.50 ERA
At the Plate:
Diamondbacks
- Ender Inciarte: 3-5, SO, .326 AVG
- A.J. Pollock: 1-4, R, RBI, SO, .298 AVG
- Paul Goldschmidt: 1-4, 2 RBI, .344 AVG
Phillies
- Freddy Galvis: 1-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, .355 AVG
- Jeff Francoeur: 1-1, RBI, .217 AVG
- Chase Utley: 1-3, SO, .124 AVG
- The six-time All-Star batted sixth tonight for the first time in over a decade.
This is first time Utley is hitting lower than 5th since June 30, 2005, and first time he is hitting lower than 4th since April 21, 2006.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) May 15, 2015
- Utley's double in the second inning was the 336th of his career, which tied Hall of Fame outfielder Chuck Klein for sixth-most in franchise history.
What's Next
Saturday, May 16, 2015: vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, 7:05 pm
- RHP Archie Bradley (2-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. RHP Jerome Williams (2-3, 5.21 ERA)
- TV: NBC10; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Sunday, May 17, 2015: vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, 1:35 pm
- RHP Josh Collmenter (3-4, 5.27 ERA) vs. RHP Sean O'Sullivan (0-2, 5.06 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
