Better late than never: Phillies 5, Blue Jays 1

Vince Velasquez deserved better.

Pitching one of the better games of his life, Velasquez kept putting up zeroes for most of the game. Entering the sixth without having surrendered a run and still not that close to 100 pitches, he looked like he still had some gas in the tank.

Then he met Vladito.

The game was moving along quite rapidly. It wasn’t crisp, what with another error from the defense and several walks allowed by Velasquez, but he and his counterpart Steven Matz were blanking the offenses, not giving up any runs. When Vlad Guerrero, Jr. came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, the score would become untied very quickly.

Still, since it was only a solo shot, the game was within reach as the Phillies came to bat in the seventh.

Now, during the game, there were a few missed opportunities to score some runs. The offense couldn’t push anything across, but thanks to Toronto’s relievers, they didn’t have to.

In the seventh, Andrew Knapp opened with a walk, but looked like he’d be stranded when the next two hitters struck out. Then Jean Segura walked. Bryce Harper walked. And with the count run full on J.T. Realmuto, he took a ball down and the game was tied thanks to the fourth walk of the inning. That brought up Rhys Hoskins looking to break the game open.

He did.

Alec Bohm followed with an RBI double of his own and the team had their big inning. The bullpen locked down the game the rest of the way and the Phillies had another road win.

The two teams go back at it again Saturday night with Aaron Nola on the mound.