Velasquez strong as Phillies win third straight

By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Final: Philadelphia Phillies 6, St. Louis Cardinals 2 ❖ Attendance: 41,039

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The Philadelphia Phillies (25-16) have won their third straight game and their first in a four game set against the St. Louis Cardinals (23-18). With the victory, the Phillies are now 17-2 against teams outside their division. Phillies starter Vince Velasquez was very dominant. Over six and a third scoreless innings, the righty allowed five hits, walked two batters and struck out five. Velasquez went into tonight's game with an ERA over 5.00, and left with a 4.37 ERA. He has shown improvement from the beginning of the season and if he wants to remain in the rotation, he needs to keep it up. Seranthony Dominguez, who helped Velasquez finish the seventh inning, made history with his appearance in the game. He is the first reliever in recorded history (since 1908) to begin his career with five straight appearances in which he did not allow a hit, walk or run and recorded at least two outs. The slew of relievers that followed Dominguez struggled over the last two innings of the game, but ultimately got the job done.

The Phillies' bats didn't start to heat up until halfway through the game, but once they did, they made an impact. Odubel Herrera extended his on base streak to 43 games with a walk in the fourth inning. His streak is currently the fifth longest in franchise history and could be tied for fourth if he gets on base during tomorrow's game. Herrera's single in the seventh inning extended his hitting streak to five games, as well as his hitting streak against the Cardinals to 12 games. Carlos Santana's fifth inning homer gave him 17 RBI in the month of May. In the eighth inning, Pedro Florimón hit his first home-run since September 27, 2013.

WP: Vince Velasquez (4-4, 4.37 ERA) ❖ LP: Luke Weaver (3-3, 4.37 ERA)

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	1	0	0	3	2	6	11	0
STL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	10	0

The bats were quiet for both teams through the first four innings. However, the Phillies made some noise in the top of the fifth. First baseman Carlos Santana led off the inning with a solo home-run to center field. It was his eighth of the season. Unfortunately, the next three batters struck out in order and the Phils weren't able to add any more runs to their total in the inning.

The Phillies added on in the eighth. Jorge Alfaro got things started with a leadoff single. Because of his hustle, he was called safe at second on a fielder's choice off the bat of Pedro Florimón. Second baseman César Hernández followed with a soft single to left field to load the bases for Aaron Altherr. He singled to center, scoring both Alfaro and Florimón. The Cardinals then decided to make a pitching change, opting to replace the struggling Jordan Hicks with Sam Tuivailala. Center fielder Odubel Herrera doubled down the right field line, scoring Hernández from second and moving Altherr up to third. This made it a 4-0 ballgame. After a strikeout by Rhys Hoskins, Tuivailala and the Cards opted to intentionally walk Carlos Santana to load the bases. Maikel Franco grounded into a force out for the second out of the inning, with Altherr being called out at home. Nick Williams, who was pinch-hitting for reliever Seranthony Dominguez, grounded out to end the Phils' half of the frame.

The Cardinals got a few back in the bottom of the eighth. Yacksel Ríos walked center fielder Tommy Pham on four pitches and was immediately replaced on the mound by Luis Garcia. First baseman José Martínez greeted him with a single to left field. Garcia then hit Paul DeJong with a pitch to load the bases. Marcell Ozuna grounded into a force out, with DeJong being called out at second. However, Pham scored on the play and put the Cards on the board. Runners were now on first and third with one out for Dexter Fowler. He hit a grounder to first and Santana opting to throw out Martinez at the plate for the second out. This put runners on first and second with two outs for Jedd Gyorko. He singled to left, scoring Ozuna and making it a 4-2 game. The Phillies made their second pitching change of the inning and brought in Adam Morgan, fresh off the disabled list. He got pinch-hitter Harrison Bader to fly out to right field for the final out.

The Phils got those two runs back in the top of the ninth. Alfaro led off the inning with a single to left field. Florimón homered to right-center field to give the Phillies a 6-2 lead. Hernández followed with a single to center. After a strikeout by Altherr, Hernández stole second during Herrera's at-bat. Herrera and Hoskins were both retired on groundouts to end the inning and Hernández was ultimately stranded at second. However, that didn't matter, as Edubray Ramos threw a scoreless ninth inning to secure the victory.

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