Hector Neris serves up homer but earns first save
It wasn't all smooth, but Phillies righthander Hector Neris earned his first career save Sunday in a 2-1 win over the Cleveland Indians at Citizens Bank Park.
It wasn't all smooth, but Phillies righthander Hector Neris earned his first career save Sunday in a 2-1 win over the Cleveland Indians at Citizens Bank Park.
With closer Jeanmar Gomez having pitched in four of the previous five games, Neris was told by manager Pete Mackanin before the game that he would be the closer for Sunday.
Neris got the dangerous Francisco Lindor to pop out to shortstop to open the ninth, but then he served up a 370-foot home run to right field to Carlos Santana. Neris got Yan Gomes to line out, with leftfielder David Lough making a nice diving catch. The game ended with Neris striking out Tyler Naquin.
"I feel happy because my team won, and for me, my first big-league save is a great feeling," Neris said.
The key, Neris said, was keeping his composure after Santana's home run.
"I forgot about it," said Neris, whose ERA is 1.17. "He hit it, and I said: 'OK, I have to get another two outs.' "
Last season, Neris had a 3.79 ERA in 32 appearances for the Phillies. Mackanin says this season's success can largely be attributed to Neris' split-fingered fastball.
"We told him late in spring to start throwing the split more than he had been," Mackanin said. "He has good command of it, and even when it is down in the dirt, it is tough to lay off of it."
Herrera cools off
Phillies centerfielder Odubel Herrera had a number of offensive streaks snapped after going 0 for 3.
His career-long on-base streak ended at 21 games. Also ending were his 11-game hitting streak and his seven-game run-scoring streak.
St. Louis series
The Phillies begin a four-game series Monday in St. Louis against the struggling Cardinals. St Louis (12-13) has lost four in a row.
Jeremy Hellickson (2-1, 3.81 ERA) will oppose Cardinals righthander Adam Wainwright (1-3, 7.16).
The other pitching matchups for the series: Aaron Nola (1-2, 3.55) vs. Michael Wacha (2-1, 3.07) on Tuesday, Adam Morgan (0-0, 5.40) vs. Mike Leake (0-3, 5.83) on Wednesday, and Jerad Eickhoff (1-3, 4.15) vs. Jaime Garcia (1-2, 3.73) on Thursday.
Hernandez in a groove
Righthander David Hernandez has turned things around since he allowed three earned runs without recording an out in the Phillies' opening 6-2 loss at Cincinnati.
Hernandez pitched two scoreless innings Sunday. His ERA is 1.58 since opening day.
Sunday was the third time this season that Hernandez pitched two innings. In those three games, he has not allowed an earned run and has nine strikeouts and no walks.
Before this year, the last time he threw two innings in a game was June 12, 2013.
"Right now I am pitching with a lot of confidence," Hernandez said.