The Phillies gutted out a 2-1 win over the Rays Friday night, and it couldn’t have happened without a sterling performance by Vince Velasquez.
Velasquez pitched his best game since striking out 16 in early 2016, going 6.2 innings while K’ing seven Rays and giving up just three hits and a run. He was composed, in control, and never seemed to battle.
The Phils offense was slow to get going but finally broke out in the sixth, thanks to a double by J.P. Crawford and subsequent bloop single by Carlos Santana. With the game tied at 1-1, Gabe Kapler pushed the right buttons with the bullpen, as Luis Garcia, Adam Morgan and Edubray Ramos pitched well late.
Then in the top of the ninth, Scott Kingery doubled and Jorge Alfaro sliced a ball through the infield. Kingery scored the go-ahead run, and Hector Neris closed out the game.
The Phillies are now 7-5.
Tim MalcolmTim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.
