Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Despite leaving with injury, Hellickson ‘feels good’
PHILADELPHIA >> If a cramp in his forearm, the inability to grip a baseball, or the necessity to leave a game while in the process of throwing a onehitter were any reason for concern Sunday, Jeremy Hellickson hardly seemed willing to let it show.
Indeed, the right-hander was already willing to move on shortly after the Phillies’ 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals, despite having left the game after five strong innings.
“It feels good now,” Hellickson said. “A little bit after I came in here (to the clubhouse) it was still cramping a little bit. But it’s good now.”
Hellickson did not offer a detailed explanation for the symptoms, which first began in his left forearm during a warmup pitch, then began to affect his pitching arm, too. But he appeared in no pain after the game, was not sporting an ice bag, and was not discussing missing any starts.
“It was probably just dehydration,” he said.
If so, the Phillies will take his performance, the victory it helped enable, and his word … and will ask questions later.
Hellickson was outstanding in a Sunday showdown with Stephen Strasburg, allowing only a fourth-inning single by Daniel Murphy through the hole at second. He walked one and struck out two.
Asked if he’d ever had such symptoms in the past, Hellickson said, “it was the first time in a game.” So he seemed to understand his body.
“It’s funny because, between innings, I walked into the tunnel to look at some video,” Pete Mackanin said. “Cameron Rupp was in there and said, ‘You better get out there.’ I said, ‘What happened?’ We went out there and he couldn’t open his hand. I don’t know if he was dehydrated or whatever. I don’t think it’s a serious issue.”
The mood might have been different had the Phillies not won on Cesar Hernandez’s broken-bat hit with two out in the ninth.
“We showed we are not going to quit,” Hellickson said. “This is a fun team to watch. We’re probably going to do that a lot this year.”
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Though the Phillies would win the series with Washington, 2-1, they first wasted a 3-0 lead in the ninth. For that, Jeanmar Gomez is almost certain to lose his job as the closer.
“I’m going to have a talk with him tomorrow,” Mackanin said. “I’ll have something for you tomorrow. I need to talk with him.”
Gomez’s appearance was his first since Opening Day, when he allowed two ninth-inning runs in Cincinnati before the Phils held on for a 4-3 victory.
Chances are Hector Neris, who struck out two in 1.1 innings Sunday, will have the next shot at being the closer.
“You can control what you can control,” said Gomez, who surrendered a two-out, three-run pinch homer to Ryan Zimmerman. “You don’t have control of that. You have to get ready for the next situation. When you come to the ballpark, you get ready for the role that you have. You watch the video and that’s what the video is for. You try to fix it.”
Despite his rough outing, Gomez became the winning pitcher when the Phillies responded with a run in the ninth.
“You know what?” Mackanin said. “Jeanmar saved 37 games last year. So let’s just wait until tomorrow to see what happens.”
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Howie Kendrick is in his 12th season in the major leagues and is a career .290 hitter. So if his batting average glows, it shouldn’t be a surprise.
The number he dragged Sunday into Citizens Bank Park, however, had a certain appeal: .444.
“I don’t pay attention to any of that stuff,” Kendrick said, who went 1-for-3 Sunday, settling in at .429. “I just go out and play and just try to do my job as a teammate. Whatever you do in April, it means a lot, but at the same time you want to be playing good all the way throughout the season, but mainly the second half of the season, too. That’s where championships happen. That’s when guys start to roll things over and winning teams start to get rolling. That’s when you really want to play well.”
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Andrew Knapp had his first major-league hit Sunday, slicing a leadoff double into the left field corner in the fifth. That it was off Strasburg sweetened the moment.
“Yeah, the first one is going to be special no matter what, but against a guy like that who’s had such a great career it’s pretty cool to be able to say my first hit was off Stephen Strasburg,” Knapp said. “I’m honestly glad it’s out of the way now and we can just go and play. It was a big win, so it was good.”
The Phillies retrieved the ball and gave it to Knapp. He will give it to his father, Mike Knapp, a former minor-league catcher.
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The Phillies will open a three-game series with the Mets Monday night at 7:05 in Citizens Bank Park. Jerad Eickhoff (0-1, 2.70) will oppose right-hander Jacob de Grom (0-0, 0.00). Tuesday night, it will be Clay Buchholz (0-0, 7.20) and right-hander Matt Harvey (1-0, 2.70.) Vince Velasquez (0-1, 9.00) and Zach Wheeler (0-1, 11.25) will pitch Wednesday.