By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies secured the first series win of the Gabe Kapler era in a grand way Saturday evening.
Just a week after a 15-2 drubbing at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, both Maikel Franco and Aaron Altherr hit grand slams in a 20-1 win. The two became the first Phillies duo to hit grand slams in the same game since Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez on April 27, 2009 against the Washington Nationals.
Meanwhile, a day before Jake Arrieta's first start for the Phillies, Vince Velasquez bounced back from a disappointing first start to turn in six, one-run innings and help the Phillies to their first winning-streak of the 2018 season.
Final: Phillies 20, Marlins 1
WP: Vince Velasquez (1-1, 5.19 ERA) ❖ LP: (Dillon Peters 1-1, 9.35 ERA) ❖ S: Jake Thompson (1)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| MIA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| PHI | 5 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | 20 | 20 | 1 |
After Vince Velasquez allowed a run in the top of the first inning and used 26 pitches, it looked as though it could be a long night for the Phillies. As it turned out, it was a long night for the Phillies, but in a good way.
Gabe Kapler's offense responded quickly in the bottom of the first, as a Maikel Franco grand slam highlighted a five-run first inning. It was Franco's fifth consecutive game with a home run at Citizens Bank Park, dating back to the 2017 season:
GRAND SLAM HOME RUN!
That's 8 RBI in the last two games for Maikel!
5-1, Phillies. pic.twitter.com/9A2qR5hsVq
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 7, 2018
After being held scoreless in the home half of second, Aaron Altherr joined Franco with a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning:
Déjà vu pic.twitter.com/3xCADBDghy
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 7, 2018
Nine runs through the first three innings was just the start of a spectacular evening for the Phillies offense.
Carlos Santana's three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth – which also happened to be the 1,000th hit in his career – was part of an eight-run fourth inning. Franco brought home two more runs on a double in the fourth, giving him a career-high six RBIs. For good measure, Jorge Alfaro, Rhys Hoskins and Cesar Hernandez also added in fourth-inning RBIs.
In total, the Phillies pounded out 20 hits Saturday evening, while scoring as many runs. They, literally, scored more runs tonight than the Super Bowl champion Eagles did over the final two weeks of the NFL regular season. On top of big nights from Franco and Altherr, Hoskins had three RBIs and two walks, Alfaro hit his first home run of the season and Scott Kingery scored two runs. Even Velasquez helped himself at the plate with two hits in one of the best Phillies offensive performances in recent memory.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dillon Peters | 2.2 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9.35 |
| Vince Velasquez | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 5.19 |
Vince Velasquez entered Saturday evening's game with a 13.50 ERA. He exited the top of the first, after giving up one run and using 26 pitches, with many beat writers beginning to draft articles about how it may be in the best interests of all parties for the Phillies to use one of Velasquez's two remaining options when Jerad Eickhoff is ready to return.
As it turned out, Velasquez became the first Phillies starter to pitch six complete innings this season. The 25-year-old righty settled in after a rough first two innings, not allowing a hit over the last four frames. Rather incredibly, Velasquez needed "only" 98 pitches to get through six innings of one-run ball and give the Phillies a chance to sweep the Marlins Sunday.
Marlins
- Starlin Castro: 1-3
- Derek Dietrich: 1-4, one hit, one run
- Justin Bour: 0-4, 2 Ks
Phillies
- Maikel Franco: 2-4, HR, six RBIs, one BB
- Aaron Altherr: 1-4, HR, four RBIs, one BB
- Rhys Hoskins: 2-3, three RBIs, two walks
Bullpen
Marlins
- Jacob Turner: 1.0 IP, eight hits, six earned runs
- Chris O'Grady: 1.1 IP, zero hits, zero earned runs
- Tayron Guerrero: 1.0 IP, four hits, two earned runs
- Junichi Tazawa: 1.0 IP, one hit, one earned run
- Bryan Holaday: 1.0 IP, zero hits, zero earned runs
Phillies
- Jake Thompson (seventh, eighth, ninth): 3.0 IP, one hit, zero earned runs
What's Next
- Sunday, April 8, 2018: vs. Miami Marlins, 1:35 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Trevor Richards (0-1, 10.38 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Arrieta (14-10, 3.53 ERA with CHC in 2017)
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
