By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Jesen Therrien tossed a scoreless sixth inning in his major league debut Saturday evening against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park.
While opposing shortstop Johan Camargo began the frame with a double, Therrien, 24, went on to retire the next three Braves batters unscathed, including his strike out of pinch hitter Micah Johnson. The right-hander threw a total of 14 pitches, nine of which were strikes. He topped out at 92.9 miles per hour on a four-seam fastball while facing Johnson, according to MLB.com.
Therrien appeared in relief of starter RHP Jerad Eickhoff, who in five frames allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits, three walks, three strikeouts and 91 pitches (57 strikes).
On Friday, the Phillies selected the contract of the Montreal, Canada native from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace recently-dealt RHP Pat Neshek on the big league roster.
In 39 combined games this season with Lehigh Valley and Double-A Reading, Therrien posted a 1.41 ERA and 0.84 WHIP with 65 strikeouts and nine walks. Therrien allowed just one earned run in his final 19 1/3 innings with the IronPigs (0.47 ERA) leading up to his promotion.