Phillies' offense comes alive in second game of doubleheader

Maikel Franco stood on first base and gazed toward the video board in left field during the fourth inning of Sunday's 8-5 win over the Washington Nationals in Game 2 of a doubleheader Sunday.

Franco's two-run single had triggered an offensive surge after the Phillies limped through a 3-2 loss in the first game of the rare single-admission twin bill.

The video board replayed Franco's hit, which sliced up the middle for his third RBI of the game. The rookie's hot month continued to roll at a furious pace. It was now his time to soak it in.

"I'm just more confident in everything I can do," Franco said. "Everything has just went good so far. I try to just have fun and enjoy the game."

Franco went 2 for 5 in Sunday's second game. It was his 16th multihit game of the season, which is tied for second among National League rookies. Franco flew out to deep left in the eighth inning, falling a foot shy of a homer. The third baseman is batting .373 in June with 24 RBIs and eight homers. He has 14 RBIs in seven games since June 21, second-most in the majors during that stretch.

"He's starting to show why everyone's high on him," interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "He's also going through some growing pains. He's in between being confident and a little bit sure of himself. . . . He wants to do as much damage as he can every time. He's learning. He's a young kid and there's a lot of teams that would like to have a guy like that."

The Phillies offense was listless in the first game. Jeff Francoeur drove in both runs and starter Kevin Correia was charged with just one earned run in 51/3 innings. It was the 32d time in 76 games that the Phillies had scored two or fewer runs. The team is averaging just 3.32 runs per game, the franchise's lowest mark since the National League adopted a 162-game schedule in 1962.

Severino Gonzalez started the second game and allowed four runs in 51/3 innings. It was his longest outing in six major-league starts. The righthander struck out seven and walked one. He was optioned to triple-A Lehigh Valley after earning the win.

"Pitchers develop later in their 20s to where they want to be. He's in that process," Mackanin said. "I like the way he attacks the zone. I like the way he pitches quickly. For the most part, he throws strikes. He needs to work on his breaking ball a little bit more. He needs to keep the ball down in the zone. All in all he has potential to be a starter at this level."

Gonzalez threw 114 pitches, giving the bullpen a needed respite. Mackanin used four of his seven relievers in the first game. The three remaining - Elvis Araujo, Ken Giles, and Jonathan Papelbon - pitched in the second game.

Gonzalez drove in his first career run with a second-inning groundout. He then slapped a single in the fourth for his first career hit. The pitcher scored on Franco's single and was followed by Odubel Herrera. Domonic Brown stood near the on-deck circle and raised his hands as the runners approached home plate. Brown was signaling that a slide was not needed. The offense - which looked anemic just hours earlier - had come to life.

mbreen@phillynews.com

@matt_breen