When an offense faces two starting pitchers who have a combined four Cy Young Awards between them, the hitters know scoring runs will be a challenge.
After being shut out by three-time Cy Young Award Winner Clayton Kershaw Wednesday night, the Phillies were shut out again by 2009 Cy Young Award Winner Zack Greinke in a 6-0 loss.
For Greinke, the game marked his fifth consecutive start without allowing a run, and extended his scoreless streak to 35 2/3 innings. In the process, he became only the 6th pitcher in the “Live Ball era” to have at least five straight scoreless starts. The 31-year-old threw eight innings, allowing just one hit and striking out eight. He could have followed Kershaw’s complete game effort with one of his own, but Don Mattingly elected to pull the right-hander after throwing only 94 pitches through eight innings. Greinke is now 8-2 with an MLB-low 1.39 ERA.
In his seventh start for the Phillies, Severino Gonzalez surrendered four runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings-pitched, his longest outing of the season. The four runs came on a two-run double by Yasiel Puig, and a blast off the right-field foul pole by Adrian Gonzalez. Puig added a two-run homer of his own in the eighth off reliever Hector Neris, finishing with four RBIs on the night.
Ryan Howard had the only hit off Greinke, a line drive single to the vacant left-side of the infield in the second inning. That was the only baserunner Greinke allowed. Ben Revere added the Phillies’ second hit with two outs in the ninth inning, a single off Dodgers reliever Joel Peralta. Cesar Hernandez had a rough night at the plate, going 0-4 with three strikeouts. He now has just one hit in his last 12 at-bats with five strikeouts. After last night’s shutout, the Phillies’ offense has gone 20 innings without scoring a run.
Jimmy Rollins went 1-3, and finished 5-15 with one HR and five RBIs in his first series against his former ball club.
The Phillies will head to San Francisco to take on the Giants for a three-game weekend series. The Giants have struggled lately, losing seven of their last eight games. They will turn to left-hander Madison Bumgarner to stop the bleeding. Bumgarner faced the Phillies back on June 6 at Citizens Bank Park, giving up five earned runs and striking out 11 over eight innings-pitched. Expect to see Jeff Francoeur in tonight’s lineup for the Phillies. In six career at-bats against Bumgarner, Francoeur is 2-4 with one home run and four RBIs.
The Phillies will send ace Cole Hamels to the mound. The left-hander has a been dominant lately, posting a 2.42 ERA in his last four starts. Hamels is 3-1 with a 4.61 ERA in six career starts at AT&T Park.
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