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With 13 straight scoreless innings, the Phillies' bullpen is suddenly pitching well

The four core relievers - Hector Neris, Joaquin Benoit, Pat Neshek and Edubray Ramos - have not allowed an earned run since May 14.

It was almost a month ago that Hector Neris yielded his back-to-back-to-back home runs in yet another meltdown by the Phillies bullpen. The unit blew two more leads before the seven-game road trip was over.  They had the highest ERA in the league.

And since then? They've been reliable.

The bullpen pieced together six scoreless innings on Thursday to seal a 2-1 win over Colorado. They have pitched 13 consecutive scoreless innings and have allowed just two runs in their last 22.2 innings. The four core relievers - Hector Neris, Joaquin Benoit, Pat Neshek and Edubray Ramos - have not allowed an earned run since May 14.

"For as much as people hate the bullpen a lot of times, we have a really good bullpen," Neshek said. "I've been a part of some really good ones throughout my career. But for me, we're having to pitch a lot earlier. You like it to just go 7-8-9. You like to be able to pitch where you're comfortable. When you're pitching down, behind in games, it's really tough. It's really tough to get on a roll. But that's how baseball is. It should even out. I think it's a pretty good bullpen."

Neshek, who has allowed a run in just one of his 19 outings, has pitched this season in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth. Manager Pete Mackanin shuffled his relievers into different roles as the unit struggled early in the season. He has also been forced to go to his bullpen earlier as the starting pitchers fail to go to deep into games. The team has used three closers.

"You adjust to it," Neshek said. "But we all like to have that where we know we're going to pitch... You kind of like to do what you've done for your whole career."

Neris' three-homer night came after he abandoned his splitter, the pitch that made him dominant last season. He has since went back to it and he struck out all three batters he faced on Tuesday night. Benoit has been dominant against righthanders, holding them to two hits in 34 at-bats. Both hits came in the same game.

Ramos has allowed just three hits and no runs in his last five outings. Jeanmar Gomez, who returned Thursday from the disabled list, was effective in the 11th inning. Mark Leiter Jr. has been a steady long reliever since being promoted from triple A. The unit is suddenly dependable.

"I said early on that I think it's one of our strengths. And after today you can see why I have a lot of confidence in them," manager Pete Mackanin said after Thursday's win. "We used Neshek in the 7th, Benoit in the 8th, Neris in the 9th. Ramos did a good job. Garcia pitched well. And it's good to have Gomez back. He threw very well today."