Hellickson struggles as Phillies lose eighth straight game

By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff 

Final: Boston Red Sox 7, Philadelphia Phillies 3  ❖  Attendance: 28,263

PHILADELPHIA — For the third straight night, the Philadelphia Phillies (21-43) failed to record a victory against the Boston Red Sox (37-28). With this loss, the Phils are 0-8 against American League teams this season. Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson had poor command, allowing six runs on nine hits through five innings.  It's hard to believe that this is the same pitcher that went 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA in April. If you look at Hellickson's career statistics, it appears that this past April was simply a fluke.

The Phillies bats failed to show up yet again, with a few exceptions. Aaron Altherr homered in his second straight game. Unlike the majority of the offense, he has been fairly consistent, which is a good sign. Tommy Joseph extended his hitting streak to ten games with a double in the third inning.

WP: Hector Velazquez (1-1, 6.48 ERA)  ❖  LP: Jeremy Hellickson (5-5, 4.91 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
BOS 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 13 0
PHI
0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 X 3 6 0

The Red Sox offense immediately jumped on Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson. Right fielder Mookie Betts led off the game with a single to left field. Dustin Pedroia followed with a single, on which Betts advanced to third. Xander Bogaerts doubled down the left field line to score Betts and move Pedroia up to third. Pedroia scored not long after on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Benintendi. Hellickson was able to strike out Hanley Ramirez and retire Jackie Bradley Jr. on a line out to end the frame.

The Red Sox continued to smack around Hellickson in the second. Pablo Sandoval got the rally started with a single to center field. Catcher Sandy Leon followed with a walk to put runners on first and second. One out later, Betts doubled to left field to score Sandoval and move Leon up to third. Pedroia was retired on a pop out for the second out and it seemed like Hellickson could get out of the inning without allowing any more runs. That wasn't the case. Bogaerts singled to center field to score both Leon and Betts to give the Red Sox a 5-0 lead. Benintendi was retired to end the inning, but the Phils were in a deep hole early on in this game.

The Phillies got back in the game in the bottom of the third. Freddy Galvis led off the inning with a double to right field. After a groundout by Hellickson and a pop out by Odubel Herrera, it seemed that the Phils would waste the opportunity. Howie Kendrick had other plans. He singled to left field to score Galvis. Aaron Altherr followed with a homer over the left field wall to make it a 5-3 game. First baseman Tommy Joseph doubled off the left-center field wall to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Red Sox starter Brian Johnson then left the game with an injury. It was later revealed that Johnson left with left shoulder discomfort. Maikel Franco was retired for the third out.

The Red Sox got one back in the top of the fourth. Betts got his third hit of the game: a home-run to left-center field. At this point, he was only a triple short of the cycle. Fortunately, Hellickson was able to retire Pedroia, Bogaerts and Benintendi in order to keep the Phils within three runs of tying the game.

The bats were relatively quiet for both teams until the ninth inning. With one out in the top of the fame, Betts hit his second homer of the game, raising his RBI and runs scored totals for the evening to three and four, respectively. Pedroia followed with a single to center, and that marked the end of reliever Adam Morgan's night. Jeanmar Gomez entered the game for the Phils and retired Pedroia and Bogaerts on a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Ultimately, the Phillies' bats were stymied by the Red Sox 'pen and they failed to capitalize on the opportunities they were given.

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Starting Pitchers

  IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Brian Johnson 2.2 4 3 3 1 1 1 4.29
Jeremy Hellickson 5.0 9 6 6 3 1 1 4.91

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At the Plate

Red Sox

  • Mookie Betts: 4-5, 4 R, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, .280 AVG
  • Xander Bogaerts: 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI, .325 AVG
  • Dustin Pedroia: 2-5, R, .302 AVG

Phillies

  • Aaron Altherr: 1-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, .286 AVG
  • Freddy Galvis: 2-3, R, 2 2B, .230 AVG
  • Howie Kendrick: 1-4, R, RBI, .340 AVG

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Bullpen

Red Sox

  • Hector Velazquez (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th): 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 6.48 ERA
  • Joe Kelly (7th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 1.27 ERA
  • Matt Barnes (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 3.26 ERA
  • Robby Scott (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 1.65 ERA

Phillies

  • Luis Garcia (6th, 7th): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.65 ERA
  • Adam Morgan (8th, 9th): 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 9.26 ERA
  • Jeanmar Gomez (9th): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 7.17 ERA

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What's Next

  • Thursday, June 15, 2017: vs. Boston Red Sox, 7:05 p.m.
    • Citizens Bank Park
    • LHP Chris Sale (8-2, 2.97 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Pivetta (1-3, 5.52 ERA)
    • TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP

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