Velasquez tosses 7 strong in Phillies’ 7-3 win over D-backs
PHOENIX (AP) — Vince Velasquez allowed two runs in a season-high seven innings and Scott Kingery homered in his hometown ballpark, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.
Velasquez (4-6) gave up six hits, struck out three and got help from a running catch in left field by Adam Haseley with a runner on and two outs in the seventh, taking a hit away from Arizona’s Carson Kelly. Jean Segura drove in two runs for the Phillies.
Philadelphia maintained its hold on a wild-card spot in the National League, while the Diamondbacks dropped to 3 1/2 games off the pace in what is a key three-game series for both contenders.
David Peralta had two hits and drove in two runs for the Diamondbacks. Starter Merrill Kelly (7-12) gave up three earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in six innings.
Ketel Marte led off the bottom of the first with a triple and came home on Peralta’s grounder. The Phillies tied it at 1 on Phoenix native Kingery’s 14th home run of the season in the second.
Philadelphia went ahead for good with two runs in the third inning. Rhys Hoskins reached on catcher’s interference and later scored on J.T. Realmuto’s double.
Segura followed with a shallow fly ball to center field on which Marte broke late and couldn’t catch, allowing Bryce Harper to score to make it 3-1.
Eduardo Escobar’s sacrifice fly drove in Kelly and made it a one-run game in the bottom of the third. But the Phillies manufactured another run on Haseley’s double, a sacrifice bunt by Velasquez and Cesar Hernandez’s grounder.
The Phillies took a 7-3 lead following single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. The latter two runs came in after two throwing errors, a walk, stolen base and wild pitch.
GODLEY DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT
The goodbyes and well-wishes pitcher Zack Godley exchanged with his Diamondbacks teammates in the clubhouse after Sunday’s game turned out be the product of the club’s decision to designate the right-hander for assignment on Monday.
Godley, 29, is 3-5 with two saves and a 6.39 ERA in 27 games (nine starts) this season. In five seasons with Arizona he is 36-30 with a 4.70 ERA in 122 games.
Right-hander Taylor Clarke was optioned to Triple-A Reno after pitching 5 2/3 innings in his start on Sunday. Clarke was 4-3 with a 5.46 ERA. The Diamondbacks called up pitchers Robby Scott and Kevin Ginkel from Reno.
Scott made his Diamondbacks debut Monday and Ginkel his major league debut, both pitching in the seventh inning. Scott was charged with a run after Ginkel relieved him, got his first career strikeout and gave a single to Segura.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: 3B Jake Lamb took a hard fall trying to get to Kingery’s double down the line in the sixth inning and was attended to by a trainer, but stayed in the game.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Jake Arrieta (8-8, 4.44 ERA) is scheduled to face the Diamondbacks. He’s 5-3 in 10 starts with a 2.43 ERA in his career against Arizona.
Diamondbacks: RHP Mike Leake (9-8, 4.27) is set for his Diamondbacks debut after coming over in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on July 31. Wearing the No. 8, he’s the first D-backs pitcher with a single-digit uniform number.
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