The nature of the defeat was overshadowed only by the sub-par outing pieced together by Phillies' hurler Jeremy Hellickson in his second to last start before the trade deadline arrives next week. He surrendered six runs on seven hits over and needed 93 pitches to get through five innings. Henow has a 5.79 ERA since May 1.
“That’s not a start I want no matter what’s going on,” Hellickson said. “I can take some positives out of it. I think it was good except for that four-batter span there in that third inning.”
Trailing 8-1, the Phillies erased the deficit thanks to a four-run seventh and a three-run eighth. Cesar Hernandez delivered the biggest blow with a three-run homer. Cameron Rupp chipped in with a two-run shot in the eighth. The catalyst for the Phillies though was Odubel Herrera who belted a pair of doubles and accounted for the Phillies lone run prior to the seventh with a solo homer. He finished the evening 4-for-4 with three runs scored.
“He’s hard to figure out,” Mackanin said. “He goes into those little spells where he doesn’t have the plate discipline and then all of a sudden he comes out of it. He’s kind of an up-and-down kind of guy. When he’s hot, he’s really hot. He’s hard to figure out, but I’m glad he’s pushing that average up and swinging the bat well.”
Hector Neris surrendered the winning run on Santana's single, scoring Hernan Perez who reached earlier int he frame on a fielder's choice.
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