Santana drives in five as Phils rout Giants
PHILADELPHIA » The weather is heating up and so is Carlos Santana. At least that’s how the Phillies’ power rocker sees it.
“Right now I feel more comfortable,” Santana said Wednesday night after a three-hit, five-RBI game that keyed the Phillies to an 11-3 win over the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park. Warming to the daily task at the plate over the past week to 10 days after an absolutely brutal first month of the season, Santana popped his average up 16 points (to .189) in this one game alone.
It all points to a better forecast for him.
“The weather’s better,” Santana said. “I had to help my team and focus. Try to hit something up the middle, not try to pull, make good contact ... this is the difference.”
To manager Gabe Kapler, the difference with Santana is a lot of balls he was hitting were getting caught by shifted fielders over the first few weeks or so. Kapler sees things returning to normal for the veteran slugger he had in the cleanup spot on this night.
“Huge to see him not just break out in a big way but get some breaks,” Kapler said. “He was due to have balls fall but he really drove the baseball tonight.”
Santana had to deal with his ultra-slow start with the added weight of the three-year, $60 million contract he signed when he came to Philadelphia in the offseason.
“For me, there’s no corrolation,” Kapler said. “This is not unusual or uncommon for Carlos Santana. Long track record of success and a history of starting a little slow. So I don’t think he had the pressure of a contract in years prior, but there are some similarities to the way he’s started his seasons.”
*** Santana was in the 4-hole because Rhys Hoskins was given a rare start off. Prior to the game, Kapler said, “I think Rhys is one of the best offensive players in baseball. It’s painful to not have him in the lineup.”
Hoskins, however, did have a rare pinch-hitting appearance in the sixth inning, drilling a sacrifice fly to center amid a six-run inning.
*** Maikel NOTES » Franco is also warming with the weather, equaling Santana’s threehit night to boost his impressive slash line to .292/.325/.540. He hit his seventh homer of the season, too . ... Nick Pivetta threw 31 pitches in the first inning alone, but escaped unscathed because he struck out Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria with two runners on. Pivetta would run it to 96 pitches through five innings before getting pulled, but allowed no runs on four hits and got seven KOs against no walks. “That first inning kind of killed me,” he said. “That was a little hard. But I got out of it with no runs; that’s better than anything so I was pretty happy about that.” ... Phils have won three against the Giants to the tune of 26-5. They go for a sweep Thursday (1:05) with Vince Velasquez vs. Ty Blach.