Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Dazzling Debut
Herrera and Franco supply power to back De Los Santos
NEW YORK » Enyel De Los Santos won his major league debut and the Philadelphia Phillies got home runs from Maikel Franco and Odubel Herrera in a 7-3 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
Franco drove in four runs as the Phillies, who began the day tied with Atlanta atop the NL East, won for the 10th time in 13 games. Nick Williams had three hits and two RBIs, and Rhys Hoskins also got three hits.
De Los Santos allowed three runs and five hits over 6.1 effective innings. The 22-yearold right-hander was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he was 9-3 with a 1.89 ERA in 16 starts, and matched against another starter making his big league debut in Drew Gagnon of the Mets.
Staked to an early lead and armed with an unorthodox and deceptive slingshot delivery that Philadelphia manager Gabe Kapler dubbed a “crossfire,” De Los Santos (10) cruised for most of the night against a scuffling Mets lineup that has managed only eight runs over its last five games.
De Los Santos walked three and struck out six. He threw 94 pitches, 58 for strikes.
Acquired from San Diego in December for shortstop Freddy Galvis, De Los Santos was scheduled to pitch for the International League in the Triple-A All-Star Game on Wednesday before getting called up.
He also was chosen to play for the World Team in Sunday’s All-Star Futures Game.
It was the first time a Phillies starter made his debut against another starter in his first outing since Sept. 25, 1944, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Back then, Charlie Ripple faced Charlie Gassaway of the Chicago Cubs at Shibe Park.
Amed Rosario had three hits for the Mets, including two triples to left field. New York has dropped 19 of its last 23 home games.
Franco put the Phillies ahead with a three-run homer off Gagnon (0-1) in the second.
The third baseman is batting .440 with two homers and seven RBIs over his last eight games. He added an RBI single in the sixth and made several nifty plays on hard-hit grounders.
Williams lined a tworun single in the third. Herrera clubbed a solo shot into the Phillies’ bullpen in the fifth for his career-high 16th home run.
The 28-year-old Gagnon was charged with six runs and seven hits in 4.2 innings. He also hit two batters with pitches.
At the plate, Gagnon drove in Rosario with a sacrifice fly — giving his family in attendance something to cheer about.
TRAINER’S ROOM
PHILLIES » Hoskins crashed violently with his face into the padded left-field wall while chasing Rosario’s triple in the third. Hoskins, who broke his jaw in late May when he fouled a ball off his mouth, remained in the game after being checked by Kapler and a trainer. METS » Slumping OF Michael Conforto was rested until entering as a pinchhitter in the seventh. He began the night batting .186 since June 1 . ... RHP Noah Syndergaard plans to throw a bullpen Wednesday. If all goes well, he will start Friday night against Washington. Syndergaard has been sidelined since late May with a strained ligament in his right index finger . ... LHP Jason Vargas (strained right calf) threw only 64 pitches over six shutout innings in a rehab outing Monday for Class A Brooklyn. “We’d like to get him built up a little bit more so we’re going to obviously talk to him today,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “Try to figure out if he needs more rehab outings or if he’s available to pitch for us.” ... RF Jay Bruce felt discomfort in his hip when he began baseball activity. He has been shut down for a 10day period that started Sunday, according to Callaway. After that, Bruce’s condition will be reassessed.
UP NEXT
PHILLIES » Recovering from a bruised forearm, RHP Vince Velasquez (5-8, 4.69 ERA) is expected to return from the 10-day disabled list to start Wednesday night’s series finale. Velasquez was hit just below the right elbow by a line drive on June 30. He retrieved the ball and threw it left-handed to first base to get the out, falling to the ground in pain immediately afterward. METS » All-Star RHP Jacob deGrom (5-4, 1.79 ERA) tied a season high with eight innings of one-run ball against Tampa Bay last Friday. He leads the majors in ERA.