Leiter Jr. strong in starting debut as Phillies top D-backs in opener

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

Final: Phillies 6, Diamondbacks 1  ❖  Attendance: 31,648

PHOENIX — Thanks to a six-run, 12-hit offensive outburst, the Philadelphia Phillies (24-48) were able to defeat LHP Patrick Corbin and the Arizona Diamondbacks (46-28) Friday evening in the first of four games at Chase Field.

Rookie RHP Mark Leiter Jr. earned his first Major League victory while making his Major League starting debut as the fill-in for injured RHP Jerad Eickhoff (upper back strain).  Phillies pitching collectively limited Diamondbacks batters to just six hits — three singles, two doubles and a triple — 0-6 with runners in scoring position and six runners left on base.

The Phillies have now won back-to-back games and five straight games at Chase Field since August 12, 2015. Leiter Jr. — and his father Mark Leiter Sr. who pitched with the Phillies from 1997-98 — are now just the 15th father-son combination in Major League history to make starts with the same club.

WP: Mark Leiter Jr. (1-0, 3.60 ERA)  ❖  LP: Patrick Corbin (6-7, 4.89 ERA)


Game Summary:

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
PHI 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 6 12 0
ARI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 6 1

A one-out triple and subsequent RBI groundout by shortstop Freddy Galvis and right fielder Aaron Altherr respectively in the top of the first gave the Phillies an early 1-0 lead.

The score would remain intact until the top of the eighth, when third baseman Maikel Franco delivered a one-out opposite-field solo home run to right, his ninth of the season.

Between those two scoring plays for the Phillies featured a stellar Major League starting debut for Leiter Jr. — tossing six shutout innings on just 81 pitches (51 strikes) — and yet another scoreless relief appearance by RHP Pat Neshek in the seventh.

Neshek now owns a 16-inning scoreless streak since May 18, the longest by a Phillies reliever since RHP Justin De Fratus in 2014 (18 innings). The right-hander has the second-longest active streak in Major League Baseball, trailing Boston Red Sox RHP Joe Kelly (18 1/3 innings).

Arizona's only run of the evening came against veteran RHP Joaquin Benoit in the latter-half of the eighth. After center fielder Reymond Fuentes began the frame with an infield single, left fielder Daniel Descalso tripled to right two batters later, his 22nd RBI of the season.

The Phillies made sure to add enough insurance runs in the ninth for acting closer RHP Hector Neris to secure the series opener victory. Facing southpaw T.J. McFarland, catcher Cameron Rupp began the inning with a single to center field. Pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick then came through with a ground rule double to right, putting two runners in scoring position. Kendrick was slated to start, but was a late scratch with left hamstring tightness.

Over his last five games (22 plate appearances), Kendrick is batting .550/.591/.500 with three runs scored, 10 singles, one double, two walks and four strikeouts. His .355 overall batting average is the third-best, trailing only infielders Justin Turner (.392) and Eric Sogard (.360) (minimum 130 plate appearances).

The next batter, rookie left fielder Cameron Perkins, picked up his second career RBI with a sacrifice fly to right. Then, Galvis safely reached first on an error by Chris Owings at short, concurrently scoring Kendrick from third. First baseman Tommy Joseph capped off the rally with a two-run home run to right, his 12th.

Joseph has hit safely in 17 of his last 18 games with three home runs and 12 RBIs since June 5. Joseph and Altherr are now tied for the club lead in home runs this season at 12. This number is already nearly half of the 2016 Phillies' home run leaders' production, Franco and first baseman Ryan Howard (25).

While no longer a save situation, Neris still went 1-2-3 to close out the win

Since May 19, Neris has 18 strikeouts in his last 13 innings pitched. The right-hander entered the contest with a 5.59 ERA while pitching the ninth and a 0.75 ERA in all other innings.


Starting Pitchers:

  IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Mark Leiter Jr. 6.0 3 0 0 1 5 0 3.60
Patrick Corbin 6.2 8 1 1 1 5 0 4.89


At the Plate:

Phillies

  • Freddy Galvis: 2-5, R, 2B, 3B, .245 AVG
  • Tommy Joseph: 1-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, 2 SO, .260 AVG
  • Maikel Franco: 1-5, R, HR, RBI, .224 AVG

Diamondbacks

  • Daniel Descalso: 1-4, 3B, RBI, SO, .209 AVG
  • David Peralta: 1-4, 2B, .330 AVG
  • Chris Iannetta: 1-4, 2B, 3 SO, .236 AVG

Bullpen:

Phillies

  • Pat Neshek (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 0.61 ERA
  • Joaquin Benoit (8th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 4.40 ERA
  • Hector Neris (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.62 ERA

Diamondbacks

  • Rubby De La Rosa (7th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
  • Jorge De La Rosa (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 4.05 ERA
  • T.J. McFarland (9th): 1.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR, 1.99 ERA

What's Next:

  • Saturday, June 24, 2017: at Arizona Diamondbacks, 10:10 p.m.
    • Chase Field
    • RHP Ben Lively (1-1, 3.33 ERA) vs. LHP Robbie Ray (7-3, 2.87 ERA)
    • TV: TCN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP 
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