Phils keep rolling

PHILADELPHIA » “It reeks in here!” Pete Mackanin making a grand entrance into a post-game press conference Thursday, signifying the looseness now prevalent in this and other rooms on the ground floor of Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies had just used yet another strong start from Jeremy Hellickson, very effective bullpen work and a scratch-and-claw offense to deliver a 3-2 victory over the Miami Marlins. Throw in a day-long rain Tuesday and you can call this a second straight series sweep for a Phillies club that’s 8-2 in its last 10 games, 11-9 overall and about to hit the road brimming with confidence.

Considering the way the first two seasons of this ongoing rebuild counted out in the standings, it would be altogether wrong to say this spate of success smells famil-

iar. But look at the record of a year ago and see that the Phillies got hot in the middle of April and again in early May. They ended their first 20 games of 2016 at 10-10, and were 22-15 on May 14.

But all the pleasantly surprised fans took on knowing sighs over the following four weeks, during which the club went on a tumbling stretch of 28 losses in 36 games.

So if there’s any hesitation on Mackanin’s part to relate this latest impressive April to what happened last season, well no wonder he’s sniffing the air rather than pushing his press room luck.

“I’m obviously pleased at the performance of the players,” Mackanin said. “We’re coming together as a team. The starters have given us more innings, which makes it a little easier for the bullpen. The bullpen has been doing their job. We’re getting timely hitting. Holding down the fort. It’s a good feeling. We just have to continue that for a little bit longer than we did last year.”

For that to happen, Mackanin might know he has to keep his most relible starting pitcher Hellickson as fresh as possible for as long as possible. So for the second straight outing, Hellickson was relieved at a point where he could have pitched another inning, this time after six frames and 94 pitches.

He had run into some trouble here and there against the Marlins but allowed just one run on seven hits when he left with a 3-1 lead and another layer of his manager’s respect.

“Sometimes I watch him pitch (and) when he’s doing it right, it looks like he’s just playing catch with the catcher,” Mackanin said of Hellickson, now 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA. “The catcher puts down a location and he throws it there, and they throw it back just like they’re having a game of catch. Really super job for him.”

When Mackanin lifted Hellickson, things got momentarily shaky as a hot shot by Adeiny Hechavarria went off reliever Edubray Ramos’ pitching arm to start the Miami seventh. Ramos came out for Joely Rodriguez, who promptly plunked the second Marlins hitter.

But the Marlins would only be able to scratch out a run in that seventh, and then Joaquin Benoit and Hector Neris teamed to set the last six Marlins down in order to preserve the win.

That’s what Hellickson and the rest of a young Phils starting staff has been able to work with in this first month — a pretty steady bullpen. But then, as last season showed, it’s a long season, and a sweet-smelling start doesn’t always reveal what’s to come.

“A win’s a win,” Hellickson said. “We’re playing a couple of tough teams now on the road (in Los Angeles and Chicago) and we have to keep grinding, and keep it up.”

Hellickson did his usual thing Thursday, using his changeup often and effectively.

“That’s my go-to pitch against everybody,” Hellickson said of his slow and slower change. “I’m just locating it well right now . ... We’ve been keeping it down for the most part and mixing it up as best as we can.”

Mackanin remembered a year ago, when Hellickson was new to the staff, remarking to pitching coach Bob McClure about Hellickson’s use of the changeup to right-handed hitters.

“I didn’t understand it,” Mackanin said. “I told Mac, ‘I’m not crazy about righton-right changeup.’ He said, ‘Pete, it’s such a good changeup that he gets people out with it.’ I said ‘OK, I’ll defer to you on this one.’

“He’s one of those guys that understands throwing the ball harder isn’t better than throwing it soft. He’s got such a good changeup and such a good curveball, that, when he’s locating his fastball, he gets hitters out with all three of those pitches.”