Velasquez's no-hit bid, hot bats earn Phillies series win

By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Final: Philadelphia Phillies 9, Colorado Rockies 3 ❖ Attendance: 22,500

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Philadelphia Phillies (35-31) came into today's game aiming for a win over the Colorado Rockies (33-35) to give them their first series win of the month. They were able to do just that. Phillies starter Vince Velasquez was masterful. He didn't allow a hit until the seventh inning. Over six and 2/3 innings, Velasquez allowed two runs on one hit and walked two batters. He struck out six. Today's game marked the second time this season that a Phillies starter has taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning, with the other being Aaron Nola on May 26.

The Phillies' bats woke up today. In the almost 37 minute long bottom of the seventh inning alone, the Phillies scored four runs on five hits and walked twice. Rhys Hoskins had an especially good game. He finished a triple short of the cycle and scored two runs. For the tenth time in his young career, Hoskins had three or more RBI in the game. Nick Williams also homered and knocked in a pair of runs. Odubel Herrera and Carlos Santana each picked up a pair of singles and a RBI. As a team, the Phillies were 6-11 with runners in scoring position, which is huge. They need to build on this momentum and work on making this kind of offensive production less unusual.

WP: Vince Velasquez (5-7, 4.74 ERA) ❖ LP: German Márquez (4-7, 5.13 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
COL	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	3	3	0
PHI	1	1	0	0	0	1	4	2	X	9	13	0

The Phillies took an early lead in today's ballgame. With one out in the bottom of the first, Rhys Hoskins homered to left field. It was his second home-run since coming off the disabled list. Odubel Herrera and Carlos Santana were retired on a strikeout and a groundout, respectively, to end the inning.

The Phils added on in the second inning. Right fielder Nick Williams led off the second inning with a home-run to right-center field. However, the next three batters were retired in order and the Phillies had to settle for the one run.

The Phils tacked on another run in the sixth. Cesar Hernandez led off the inning with a walk. Two outs later, Santana singled on a ball just past the infield dirt. Brewers third baseman, who was positioned up the middle because of the defensive shift, slipped on the grass while attempting to field the ball but was not injured. Williams followed with a double to left field that was misplayed by Geraldo Parra. Hernandez scored and Santana moved up to third on the hit. Unfortunately, Jesmuel Valentin struck out for the final out and the Phillies stranded two runners in scoring position.

The Rockies made their first hit of the day against Phils starter Vince Velasquez count in the seventh. After retiring the first two batters, Velasquez ran into trouble. He walked Carlos Gonzalez. Shortstop Trevor Story followed with a double to left field. Gonzalez scored on the hit. The Phillies removed Velasquez, who had 105 pitches at that point, in favor of reliever Tommy Hunter. He allowed a single to Parra that went just over the glove of a leaping Hernandez into right field. Story scored from second to make it a 3-2 ballgame. Hunter struck out Ian Desmond to end the inning.

The Phillies cushioned their lead in the bottom of the seventh. Andrew Knapp and Scott Kingery got it started with back-to-back singles. J.P. Crawford followed with a walk to load the bases. The Rockies then decided to remove their starter, German Márquez, in favor of reliever Jake McGee. Hernandez was retired on a shallow flyout for the first out of the inning. This brought Hoskins to the plate. During his at-bat, a passed ball allowed Knapp to score and Kingery and Crawford to move up to third and second, respectively. Hoskins hit a double to left field. Kingery scored easily. For some reason, Crawford held up, possibly thinking that the ball would be caught, and as a result, only advanced to third base. That ultimately didn't matter, as he scored on a single by Herrera. Hoskins moved up to third base. Santana followed with another single to knock in Hoskins and give the Phillies a 7-2 lead. Williams walked to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Aaron Altherr grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Rockies got a run back in the eighth. With Hector Neris on the mound, third baseman Ryan McMahon led off the inning with a solo homer to dead center field. It was his first Major League home-run. Fortunately for the Phils, Neris was able to retire the next three batters in order to limit the damage.

The Phils continued scoring in their half of the eighth. Knapp led off the inning with a double to right field. He moved up to third on a groundout by Kingery. Crawford followed with his first triple of the season. Knapp scored to make it a 8-3 game. After a popout by Hernandez, Hoskins singled to center to score Crawford from third. Herrera lined out to second to end the inning.

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