Phillies

Phillies Vs. Brewers: Vince Velasquez Leads Win, Deserves Another Start

Vince Velasquez delivered six strong innings in a 4-3 Phillies win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park.

Velasquez leads Phillies’ victory, deserves another start originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It had the makings of one of those here-we-go-again-Vinny nights.

Yep, Vince Velasquez did not exactly get off to an auspicious start when he gave up a mammoth, 446-foot home run to Lorenzo Cain on the eighth pitch he threw.

And it didn’t get a lot better when he allowed a hit and a walk to the next two batters in the top of the first inning.

But, as we’ve learned over five-plus mostly frustrating seasons, you never know quite what you’re going to get from Vinny Velo, and on Monday night, the mercurial right-hander stopped the bleeding quickly and delivered six strong innings in a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park.

The victory, capped by Hector Neris’ sixth save – a very nervous one -- snapped a two-game losing streak for the Phillies and left them at 14-15.

The Brewers (17-12) entered the game tied with Brother Gabe Kapler’s San Francisco Giants for the best record in the National League and they got a little stronger when both Cain and former NL MVP Christian Yelich were activated from the injured list before the game.

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After Yelich followed Cain’s homer with a single in the top of the first inning, Velasquez allowed just two hits the rest of his outing. He walked two and struck out six while becoming the first Phillies starter this season not named Nola, Wheeler or Eflin to go six innings.

Velasquez and the Phillies did not trail for long in this game.

Brad Miller, starting at first base in place of Rhys Hoskins, singled against Adrian Houser with one out in the bottom of the first inning and came around to score on J.T. Realmuto’s third homer of the season, a booming shot to left that landed in the second deck. (Since the start of 2019, the Phillies are 22-3 when Realmuto homers at home.)

The Phillies built their lead to 4-1 in the second inning when Odubel Herrera reached on an error and scored on a triple by Roman Quinn. Velasquez then helped himself by delivering Quinn with a ground ball to the right side.

Velasquez allowed two base runners with two outs in the third inning, but skirted trouble. He retired the final 10 batters he faced.

Velasquez moved into the rotation as a fill-in for Matt Moore when the latter went into COVID-19 protocol two weeks ago. Moore has been back for a week now but has not seen action. He has become the forgotten man on the Phillies pitching staff, probably because he had a 9.82 ERA in 11 innings over three starts.

Velasquez has made three starts in place of Moore and totaled 14 1/3 innings. His ERA is 3.77 in those starts.

Other than saying that Moore has been available for relief work,  manager Joe Girardi has been vague when discussing Moore’s role. But after Monday night’s performance, it stands to reason that Velasquez would get the call Saturday night in Atlanta.

After Velasquez departed with a 4-1 lead, Sam Coonrod struck out the side in the seventh. Things got hairy in the top of the eighth as Connor Brogdon walked the first two batters and both scored. The Brewers were able to cut the Phillies’ lead to a run before Neris picked Avisail Garcia off first base to end the frame.

With a short bullpen – Jose Alvarado began his two-game suspension – Neris was asked to get five outs, not always an easy assignment for a closer who is wired to pitch one inning.

Neris walked a tightrope above an alligator pit for the save. He loaded the bases before striking out Cain on a check-swing to end the game.

Neris needed 39 pitches to get five outs. Needless to say, he won’t be available Tuesday night. 

The Phillies have not won two games in a row in a month, since the third and fourth games of the season. Is Tuesday night the night? Aaron Nola gets the ball.

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