The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the host Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Friday night in the first game of a lengthy road trip.
Zach Eflin needed only 100 pitches in the second complete game of his young career, his second this month in fact, as he led the Phillies to a 4-0 win in Pittsburgh. The loss ended a 6-game losing skid for the Phils at PNC Park.
The 22-year-old righty held the Bucs to just three hits on Friday night, striking out six batters and walking no one.
Per MLB.com contributors, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said Eflin is “one of my favorite pitchers right now,” when it comes to finding a rhythm on the mound.
"“[Eflin] was, for lack of a better word, filthy tonight. He got ahead of people, great movement on his fastball, good slider, occasional changeup, occasional curveball, but he pounded the strike zone and just went right after the hitters.” ~ Mackanin"
Eflin, acquired from the Dodgers in the Jimmy Rollins trade back in December of 2014, sat down 14 straight batters between the 3rd and 8th innings. Since his tough big league debut in Toronto, the young right-hander has a 2.08 ERA over seven starts.
Eflin helped keep the Phillies afloat in Pittsburgh, as the offense battled against Gerrit Cole early on in this one.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning, Cameron Rupp hit an RBI single into right field, just out of the reach of a diving Gregory Polanco. That would be the only run to cross the plate for the Phillies in the frame, who also had the bases loaded with nobody out, but left those runners stranded.
A key piece to the Phillies lineup missed the 6th inning rally, however, after being plunked at the plate. Maikel Franco was hit by a pitch in the 1st inning, and was later removed for “precautionary measures.”
Franco was drilled on the same wrist that he broke last season, which increased the Phillies concerns. Andres Blanco came into the game during the bottom of the fourth as his replacement.
After the game, reports were that Franco’s x-rays came back negative, and it appears that he will be on a day-to-day situation.
Blanco would pay dividends later in the game. His bat ended up coming in handy, as he drove home Odubel Herrera in the seventh inning to extend the Phillies lead to two.
Rupp added some insurance with a two-run, opposite-field home run in the top of the 9th inning. The Phillies catcher now has a career-high 10 homers this season.
Another sign of life for the Phillies was ‘El Torito’, who has hit just .120 over his last seven games. The team’s lone All-Star has seen his batting average drop to the .281 mark after being consistently north of .300 for the majority of the season.
Herrera went 3-5 on the night batting in the two-hole behind Peter Bourjos. The center fielder also flashed some leather when he stole an extra-base hit off the bat of his Bucs counterpart, Andrew McCutchen, with a leaping grab against the center field wall.
Bourjos, Cody Asche, and Cesar Hernandez came up short, combiningto go 0-13 with four strikeouts. Asche was later substituted for in the 7nth inning in favor of Tyler Goeddel, who proceeded to go 0-2 himself.
Cole, the young ace of the Pittsburgh staff, only lasted six innings despite giving up just one run in what was just his second start since coming off the disabled list. He did strikeout seven batters, and saw his ERA dip below 3.00 for the first time in over a month.
In the second game of their long road trip, the Phils hope Aaron Nola can build off his six shutout frames against Miami. Pittsburgh will send their top pitching prospect Tyler Glasnow to the mound for the Saturday afternoon 4:05pm start.