Franco smacks two homers as Phillies outslug Yankees

NEW YORK - The youngest player on the Phillies' roster did not seem fazed by his Yankee Stadium debut on Monday night.

Not at all.

Maikel Franco experienced the best game of his budding major-league career in the Phillies' 11-8 win over the New York Yankees. The 22-year-old third baseman launched two home runs and drove in five runs during his first career four-hit game. For the second consecutive game, the team set a season high in runs.

Franco became the first Phillies rookie to drive in five runs in a game since Ryan Howard in August 2005. He is the club's first rookie third baseman to hit two home runs in a game since Scott Rolen in 1996.

The home runs were Franco's eighth and ninth in 36 games since becoming the team's everyday third baseman. His fourth straight multi-hit game increased his average to .312 and his on-base-plus-slugging percentage to .928. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers' Joc Pederson (.944) has a better OPS among rookies with at least 150 plate appearances.

"I don't even pay attention [to the numbers]," Franco said. "I know everybody is telling me, 'You're doing good.' My family is telling me I'm doing good. But when I go out there, I'm just trying to play the game, and play the game right."

Franco fueled the Phillies' best offensive game of the season. Their 18 hits were a season high. Ben Revere and Freddy Galvis each tallied three hits. Cesar Hernandez, Cameron Rupp and Cody Asche chipped in two apiece.

The win was the Phillies' first on the road since May 23, snapping a 12-game losing streak away from Citizens Bank Park. They had not scored more than four runs in a game throughout their 12-game road skid, the franchise's worst since 1999. Their 20 runs over their last two games are one more than they scored over their previous 10 combined.

"He's got everything you look for in a young player," Phillies starter Kevin Correia said of Franco. "He's got similarities to [Albert] Pujols with his mechanics. They're pretty amazing at this point of his career. I heard how good he was. He's showing it since I've been here, defensively and offensively. He's a guy when you're on a team in this situation that you look forward to the future."

Franco's first three hits came against Yankees righthander Michael Pineda. He lifted a 89-m.p.h. cutter over the fence in left-center in the first, loaded the bases with an infield single in the third, and smacked a two-run single in the fourth.

Facing veteran lefthander Chris Capuano in the sixth, Franco drove a 3-0 sinker an estimated 430 feet into the left-field bleachers. He became just the second Phillies hitter this season with a multi-homer game; Chase Utley accomplished the feat on April 14 across town at Citi Field.

The struggling Utley was the lone batter in the Phillies' lineup Monday without a hit. They chased Pineda, the Yankees' No. 2 starter, with just one out in the fourth. The eight runs and 11 hits the 26-year-old pitcher surrendered were both career worsts. It was just the second start of his career in which he did not strike out a batter.

The meat of the Phillies' offensive production came in the third and fourth innings. Howard drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the third. Hernandez tallied a two-run base hit for the second consecutive game, this time smacking a double to left field in the fourth. Franco followed with a two-run single.

Correia, in his third start for the Phillies after signing June 7, logged only four innings. The 34-year-old righthander allowed five runs and eight hits, the last of which was a 404-foot, three-run homer off the bat of Brett Gardner. Closer Jonathan Papelbon, pitching in a non-save situation, allowed two runs in the ninth.

After following his second home run with a great dive and throw on a sharp Chris Young ground ball down the third-base line, Franco stepped to the plate in the seventh with a chance to further bolster his career night. With the bases loaded and two outs, he fouled off three consecutive two-strike pitches from righthander Diego Moreno.

Moreno's sixth pitch, a slider, was outside of the zone but Franco couldn't hold his check swing. Home plate umpire Mark Ripperger signaled the punch-out, and Franco pulled off his batting gloves and helmet and, with a look of frustration, walked slowly toward third base for the bottom half of the inning.

The rookie need not fret. Four hits - two that left the yard - were more than enough.

@jakemkaplan