Phillies' Worley looks ace-like in dominating Mets

Vance Worley wasn't invited to all those "aces-only" photo shoots during spring training.

Worley had to settle for becoming the ace of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies' triple-A affiliate in Allentown. He made the most of that lesser assignment, posting a 2.78 ERA in his four minor-league starts, assuring the Phillies that he was ready to pitch in the big leagues when needed.

The call came Thursday after the pain in Joe Blanton's elbow grew to the point where the veteran righthander required an MRI and a trip to the 15-day disabled list. Worley, pitching in Blanton's place, answered the call Friday night with an ace-worthy six shutout innings in a 10-3 win over the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park.

"I thought he handled himself good," manager Charlie Manuel said. "He had some deep counts and pitched out of them. That's a good sign. It's a sign that he was focused on what he was doing and pretty calm."

Most of the offense was provided by the big bat of Ryan Howard, who hit two home runs, including a sixth-inning grand slam off reliever Dillon Gee that turned the game into a rout. That homer also allowed Howard to tie Del Ennis for second place on the team's all-time home run list with 259, while setting a club record with 27 RBIs for the month of April.

"I'd say there is a good chance Del is going to get passed," Manuel said.

Howard, who finished the night with six RBIs, will have to stick around a while to break Mike Schmidt's team record of 548 home runs.

"That'll be an obstacle," Manuel said. "There's a chance."

The four other RBIs were provided by Ben Francisco, who delivered a two-run single off starter Mike Pelfrey in the fifth inning, and Placido Polanco, who lined a two-run single off reliever Ryota Igarashi in the seventh.

Francisco's hit gave him 10 RBIs in his last eight games and 18 for the month, while Polanco's single gave him a club-record 39 hits for the month.

After going 14 consecutive games without scoring more than four runs, the Phillies have put up 25 in their last three games.

But the best news for the Phils is that their ultra-deep starting rotation might be even deeper than the five guys in all those spring-training photo shoots.

"When you start the season, you want to have a five-man rotation and then at least two guys at triple-A that you can call up and expect to do a good job," Manuel said.

Worley, in an abbreviated look, had gained the Phillies' confidence last season by posting a 1.38 ERA in five appearances. He struck out 12 in 13 innings and also had a couple of respectable five-inning starts. Manuel was not the least bit worried about sending Worley to the mound.

"Just go out there and pitch like he can," the manager said before the game. "Relax and concentrate on the game. He's pitched a couple of games in the big leagues. The one in Atlanta last year was very good."

Like the one in Atlanta last October, Worley did not allow a run against the Mets. In three big-league starts, he has surrendered just two runs in 16 innings for a 1.13 ERA. His overall ERA in the majors is 0.95. This was his second big-league victory, but his first as a starting pitcher.

Worley knew before the season that it would be difficult to crack the Phillies rotation, but it did not deter him from pitching well with the IronPigs.

"There are going to be opportunities," he said. "It's just a matter of when. I figured if I got up here, it would probably be for a spot start."

This was the best of Worley's three big-league starts for a number of reasons.

He struck out five batters, all of them looking, which was proof that his stuff was good.

Add in the fact that he found himself in early trouble through no fault of his own when the Mets got two runners on base after consecutive one-out errors in the top of the first inning. He escaped that jam by inducing a 6-4-3, double-play grounder from Carlos Beltran.

Three innings later, after he issued consecutive walks with one out, he got out of trouble by getting Josh Thole to pop out before Jason Pridie lined out to right field to end the inning.

In his final inning, Worley surrendered a leadoff single to David Wright and issued his fourth walk of the evening, to Beltran. He again kept the Mets off the board by getting Jason Bay to hit into a double play before retiring Ike Davis on a fly ball to right field.

"It was definitely a sigh of relief getting the double-play balls," Worley said.

And it's definitely a relief for the Phillies that they have someone like Worley to fill in whenever Blanton or one of the aces cannot pitch.