Ben Lively dominant in Phillies major-league debut
By John Town
Ben Lively was a pleasant surprise in his major-league debut, helping the Phillies to their first win in a week Saturday afternoon.
The Phillies starting rotation rarely puts together a solid outing. Three times in a week their starter was done by the end of the third. Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff racked up absurd pitch counts while Vince Velasquez suffered an elbow strain. With Velasquez out of the rotation, someone had to come in to take his place.
Ben Lively was the one to fill in for Velasquez. He is the third pitcher the team has promoted to the major-league rotation with other pitchers suffering injuries. Zach Eflin started off strong before struggling while Nick Pivetta never found his footing. It was Lively’s turn to show his worth in the majors.
In nine Triple-A starts this year, Lively posted a 2.40 ERA and walked just seven batters in 56.1 innings. In his last start before being promoted, Lively allowed just five hits and an unearned run in eight innings. Overall, he gave up more than a run just three times in his nine starts.
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Lively was in the majors for a brief time earlier this year while Pat Neshek was on paternity leave, but Lively never made an appearance out of the bullpen. He went back to Triple-A soon after.
The Giants got to Lively early Saturday, scoring a run in the second thanks to some small ball. Buster Posey hit an infield single, advanced to second on a balk then moved to third on a groundout. Posey scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Giants an early 1-0 lead.
From there, Lively was solid, giving up just two hits through the rest of his start. Lively walked three batters during his debut, two of which came with two outs in the fifth inning.
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As a whole, Lively went seven innings, giving up just four hits and one run. He got the win as the Phils scored a run in the bottom of the sixth and then plated four in the bottom of the seventh. Three of those runs in the seventh came on a bases-clearing double from Odubel Herrera that put Philadelphia on top by four.
The Giants nearly spoiled Lively’s debut, scoring two runs in the top of the ninth. Thankfully, Jeanmar Gomez was able to stop the bleeding and preserve the win, snapping Philly’s five-game losing streak.
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The debut was a great sign for Lively’s future in this rotation. With Velasquez out, Lively should get a couple starts under his belt. It was troubling to an extent that he didn’t get any strikeouts, but it was a strong way to start his major-league career.