The Phillies came into yesterdays fixture hoping to put the brakes on a derailing train. Somehow, the train was kept on the tracks as they were able to fend off the Red Sox in a 4-2 win. Rick Porcello only allowed three fly balls in his debut for Boston, but it just so happened that one of them was a three run homer that put the nail in the coffin.
It was new kid on the block Aaron Harang who set the pace for the night. Harang allowed just two hits over the 6 innings he pitched in. With eight strikes to his name, the rookie outpitched Boston star Rick Porcello who recently made history by becoming the first pitcher in the teams existence to earn $20million a year. Not a bad way to start your career as a Phil right?
This is considering that this came only two days after Cole Hamels was racked for four solo home runs. Harang struck out six of the starting nine batsmen for Boston in a commanding statement.
Cody Asche was the man to break the 14 scoreless innings with a single in the sixth before Francoeur’s homer sealed the deal. This was his first in the big leagues since June 16, 2013.
Jeff Francoeur was very much the other big surprise of the day. The reserve Phillies outfielder, who prior to this season saw his name fade into the minor leagues as he toyed with pitching. He made his first start and delivered not only the game’s biggest hit but the game winning one. The three run homer that led the Phils to a victory nobody had them down to pick up.
The saying goes every cloud has a silver lining, it appears that the Phils may have enough silver linings to make a necklace as they move into their third game of the series with a new found confidence and motivation.
