Phillies Erupt Late For Win Over Diamondbacks
PHOENIX (AP) — The postgame shower took a little longer for Mark Leiter Jr. He had assorted condiments to scrub away after a celebratory dousing from Philadelphia Phillies teammates in celebration of his first major league win Friday night.
Leiter was also in a hurry to greet his father, former big-leaguer Mark Sr., who was in attendance Friday night to see his son hold the slugging Arizona Diamondbacks to three hits over six scoreless innings. Maikel Franco and Tommy Joseph both homered in the Phillies' 6-1 victory.
Leiter struck out five with a walk in his first major league start after 12 relief appearances. He bested Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin (6-7), who held the Phillies to a run and eight hits for 6 2/3 innings.
Philadelphia won its second straight after five straight losses, three from being swept in a series with Arizona at home last week.
"It's something I'll never forget. I think I was probably more excited for this than I was my major league debut," Leiter said. "Trying to just trust myself and give my team the best chance I could to win and keep us in it as long as possible."
The Diamondbacks had scored 26 runs in their previous two games, both wins, and had won nine of their previous 10 games before Friday. They didn't score until Daniel Descalso's one-out triple drove in Rey Fuentes from first base in the eighth inning.
Reliever Joaquin Benoit gave up the run, but escaped further damage when David Peralta lined out to shortstop Freddy Galvis for the second out. After a walk to Paul Goldschmidt, Benoit struck out Jake Lamb to end the inning.
"They made some good defensive plays late in the game. Obviously the line drive by Peralta was a crucial moment," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.
Franco's solo shot came off Jorge De La Rosa in the eighth, an opposite-field home run to right that was Franco's ninth of the season.
The Phillies scored four runs off Arizona reliever T.J. McFarland in the ninth. Two hits, including Howie Kendrick's pinch-hit ground-rule double, led to Cameron Perkins' sacrifice fly, and Kendrick scored on an error.
Joseph's two-run homer landed in the pool beyond the right-field fence, his 12th of the season. Arizona lost for the just the 10th time in 36 home games.
Joseph knew the pool deck well. He had watched batting practice from there in his younger days growing up in the Phoenix area, and his home run was the first by a visiting player to land directly in the pool this season.
"That part of the ballpark is pretty deep out there," Joseph said. "It's definitely a good feeling and I'm happy to have some friends and family in the stands to enjoy it with me."
Galvis' one-out triple in the first eluded a diving attempt by Arizona right fielder Peralta, and Galvis trotted home on Aaron Altherr's grounder.
The Phillies got strong relief from Pat Neshek, who struck out the side in his lone inning. Philadelphia ended a seven-game road losing streak.
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