Quinn shines in CBP debut as Phils top Bucs
A day after being called up to the big leagues and making his major league debut in his first start yesterday against the Nationals, Roman Quinn made his second straight start tonight and he impressed everyone in the ballpark. Yesterday, Quinn showed us his glove in center field, but tonight he showed us what he could do at the plate and on the base paths. The rest of the Phillies (64-80) showed up as well, as the offense provided plenty of run support for Jeremy Hellickson in tonight’s 6-2 win over the Pirates (69-73).
The Pirates jumped out to an early lead in tonight’s ballgame as they pushed across a run on an error by Ryan Howard to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After that, it was all Phillies in this one. Freddy Galvis kicked off a big second inning for the Phils with a solo home run to right field to tie the game at one. Cody Asche delivered an RBI double off the wall to give the Phillies the lead, and then Quinn got his first big league hit, a two RBI double to left field to push the Phillies lead to 4-1. Maikel Franco capped off the five-run second inning for the Phils with an RBI groundout. Quinn came up big again in the sixth inning with another RBI double, this one to deep center that made it a 6-1 ballgame. The Pirates would eventually get one run back in the ninth, but their comeback came up well short as the Phillies’ five-run second inning would prove to be too much. Quinn was easily the Player of the Game for the Phils as he went 2 for 4 with two doubles, two RBIs, and first career stolen base. Jorge Alfaro made his big league debut tonight in the bottom of the eighth inning, and he delivered an infield single for his first big league hit.
Hellickson turned in another solid performance on the mound for the Phillies tonight, as he continues to make a case for a multi-year contract this offseason. He turned in six and one-third solid innings in which he allowed just one run (zero earned) on three hits and three walks on the way to his 11th win of the season. After tonight’s win, Hellickson now sits at 11-9 on the year with a 3.76 ERA. The top three Phillies relievers (Ramos, Neris, and Gomez) all combined to allow no earned runs for the rest of the game to back up Hellickson’s solid outing. Pirates starter Gerrit Cole didn’t have his best stuff on the mound tonight, however. In his first start since being activated off the DL, Cole allowed five runs on four hits and four walks in just two innings of work. With tonight’s loss in a very short outing, Cole now falls to 7-10 on the year with a 3.88 ERA.
The Phils and Bucs will be back at it again tomorrow night for the second of four games at Citizens Bank Park. Alec Asher (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is slated to make his second start of the season for the Phillies against Pirates right-hander Ivan Nova (12-6, 4.13 ERA) at 7:05 p.m. Asher is coming off an outstanding first start of the season in which he picked up his first big league victory. Alfaro is scheduled to make his big league start tomorrow night as he is slated to be catching for Asher, per Phillies manager Pete Mackanin. After seeing what Quinn has been able to do in the field, at the plate, and on the base paths, Phillies fans should be very excited to see what Alfaro is able to in his first career start. Alfaro and the Phillies will look to pick up their second straight win against their cross-state rivals tomorrow night.
Photo: Bryan Green (via Flickr.com)
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Categorized:Phillies