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Phillies beat Rockies on Joseph's single in 11th

They won, 2-1, to avoid their worst 45-game start since 1960.

Two Phillies players grabbed coolers filled with liquid and dumped them on Tommy Joseph because two of his swings relaxed them all. They did it. The Phillies won in 11 innings, 2-1, Thursday afternoon and they could blast loud music in the home clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park.

"Today," Joseph said, "was a good day."

It was; the Phillies avoided their worst 45-game start to a season since 1960. They could feel better about Vince Velasquez and the beleaguered bullpen, a unit that contributed six scoreless innings by six pitchers.

And, still, Pete Mackanin departed the building with much to contemplate. He watched Odubel Herrera strike out five times and Maikel Franco do nothing with the reward of reclaiming his lineup spot.

"You know what? Let me enjoy this," Mackanin said when asked about his two important and struggling hitters. "We'll discuss that tomorrow. OK? Let me smile for a while."

Joseph, who tied the game in the seventh with a solo homer, won it in the 11th with a single to center that scored Michael Saunders from second. It took 3 hours, 39 minutes to finish. Joseph has homered six times in 70 at-bats this month. He is one of the few bright spots in a miserable May.

Until Joseph's game-winning hit, a missed opportunity in the eighth inning loomed. Cesar Hernandez began the inning with a double. Aaron Altherr walked. The Phillies had their Nos. 3 and 4 hitters to bat in an important situation.

Herrera worked a full count. The Phillies could have asked him to bunt the two runners over, to put two in scoring position with one out. But Herrera, when right, is a dangerous hitter. So Mackanin let him swing. Herrera whiffed at a slider in the dirt for strike three. It was his fourth strikeout of the game.

Franco followed. He had the advantage with a 2-1 count. He took strike two. He wildly swung at a slider, low and away, for strike three. The fans booed. Franco, incredibly, is 6 for 53 this season with one extra-base hit when ahead in the count. He is not right.

Mackanin, faced with a deepening skid, returned to something that resembled his initial batting order this season. When lowering Franco in the lineup did not change the results, Mackanin benched him.

That lasted for two days.

Franco was back in the lineup, batting fourth, a spot he has not occupied in two weeks. This is Franco's chance to sink or swim, and it is a critical time in his development.

Howie Kendrick played third base Thursday night for triple-A Lehigh Valley. He'll spend at least two more games in the minors to rehab his strained abdominal muscle.

After that? The Phillies want to learn as much as they can in 2017 about their young players. If that means Franco must go to the minors for a brief period to reset, then it is an option the Phillies could exhaust.

Herrera remains a problem, too. He was the ninth Phillies hitter since 1913 to register five strikeouts in a game. He has struck out in his last seven at-bats.

"I feel that I am making good swings," Herrera said through a team interpreter, "but I'm just missing the pitches."

But Herrera swung and missed at nine pitches Thursday.

"I don't really know what it is exactly," Herrera added. "But I am seeing the ball well. I don't know if it's when I charge at the ball or the timing of my swing. It's definitely at that point. Maybe it has something to do with the balance of the bat and my body."

Could Mackanin bench Herrera like he did Franco?

"It's a tough decision," the manager said. "That's a tough decision. You wonder if he needs to be in there seeing pitches and batting, or does he need time off? I'll think about that."

mgelb@philly.com

@MattGelb

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