Neris chalks up the seldom seen six-out save

You don’t see it often anymore, the two-inning save. And after Hector Neris blew a game the last time he tried it, it wouldn’t have been so surprising if you didn’t see it around Citizens Bank Park for some time.

But there was Neris, the closest thing the Phillies have to a successful closer, breezing through the eighth inning Saturday while protecting a onerun lead.

And here came Neris, out of the dugout for the bottom of the ninth to try it once more.

Not that he was thinking about that.

“No, don’t think too much,” Neris said after putting a quick-six finishing touch on a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. “I just throw the ball. Throw a strike and try to get an out. That’s all I can do.”

That’s what Neris did to six straight Rockies in earning his seventh save. The whole time, he said, he wasn’t thinking about that April 25 game against the Marlins in which he came into a tied game in the 10th and issued a two-out, tworun home run ball to Starlin Castro that produced a 3-1 Phils loss.

“I never got my mind on the situation,” Neris said. “I come here day to day.”

••• Neris may have blown a tie against the Marlins, but he hasn’t blown a save since May of 2018, going 10 for 10 in that time . ... With two more hits, previously struggling Cesar Hernandez is up to a .301 batting average. For the month of May he’s hitting .370 with six doubles, two homers and a 1.028 OPS . ... The Rockies go with lefty Kyle Freeland Sunday against the Phils’ Jerad Eickhoff in the series finale.