For Velasquez, another brief start
NEW YORK » Even before he rammed into the fifth inning Sunday then seemed to be bothered by wet conditions, Vince Velasquez already had thrown more innings this year than in any of his other three major-league seasons.
The player who in 2016 was shut down for the year after working 131 innings and who lasted only 72 innings last season while troubled by arm issues, had thrown 134 innings this season. And he had not lasted more than five innings since Aug. 3.
Just don’t ask Gabe Kapler if his right-hander is running low on fuel.
“I don’t think he manager said. is,” the
Well, then, it could just be ineffective pitching. How else to explain wasting an early lead Sunday with an inability to register one out in the fifth? How else to explain hitting two batters in four-plus innings, allowing Michael Conforto to ram a three-run homer in the fifth, and having a sixth consecutive abbreviated start?
“I was missing spots kind of the whole game and the conditions got the best of me,” said Velasquez, after the Phils’ 6-4 loss to the Mets. “I can’t let that happen.”
The game was delayed by a half-hour at the start, the field was wet and the mound was muddy. For that, the Mets scratched scheduled starter Jacob deGrom in favor of Corey Oswalt. Velasquez, though, did not grab at that excuse.
“That shouldn’t be a factor in why I can’t throw strikes,” he said. “But that’s where I have to make that adjustment.”
With the Phillies not adding a starting pitcher for the stretch, Kapler will be forced to use those he has … at whatever the indication on their fuel gauge.
“I think the opposing hitters put some really good swings on him,” he said of Velasquez. “They were patient and attacked.”
••• Though hardly in his ideal setting, given the Phils’ recent struggles, Rhys Hoskins did hit his 30th home run Sunday. He was the first Phillies hitter to reach that level since 2011, when Ryan Howard hit 33.
Hoskins kept the celebrating to a minimum.
“It’s a number,” he said. “It’s one more, 29 vs. 30, 30 vs. 31.”
Hoskins, 25, hit 38 home runs for Reading in 2016. And since it was his third home run in the three-game series, it suggested that he would have more such seasons. “I hope,” he said. “I hope.”
•••
The Phillies have lost three of their last four games and have not won a series since sweeping the Marlins Aug. 5.
Predictably, Kapler chose to be optimistic.
“We turn the page quickly,” he said, “and look forward to getting back to Philadelphia where we’ve played really good baseball all year long,”
The Phillies are 43-26 at home and will open a threegame series Monday night against Washington.
Kapler, slightly out of character, could not dispute the missed opportunities on the just-completed 2-4 road trip through Miami and New York.
“I think we didn’t perform our best on this road trip,” he acknowledged. “I don’t think that can be diminished. It happened.”