Phils pitch combined 2-hitter, score late in win

MIAMI -- If the Marlins don't want Jeremy Hellickson after what they have seen from him recently, they might never want him.
Hellickson pitched six scoreless innings Monday night in a 4-0 victory over the Marlins at Marlins Park. Hellickson could be traded before the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline, and Miami is one of his top pursuers. Scouts from the Blue Jays, Giants, Orioles and Pirates were among a handful of teams that watched him pitch his latest gem. Hellickson has been impressive lately. He has allowed one run in 14 innings in two starts in the past week against Miami, which fell into a tie with the Mets for the second National League Wild Card spot.
"He's not going anywhere," Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp bellowed afterward in the visitors' clubhouse.
"I hope not," Hellickson added.
"We saw this guy a few days ago. The other day I looked up and I think he had 66 pitches after five innings. Tonight, I look up he's got 63 after five," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Hellickson. "It tells me we really didn't make an adjustment to him at all. That was a little disappointing. I thought we'd be better with him."
With Wei-Yin Chen on the disabled list, Marlins right-hander Jarred Cosart pitched five scoreless innings in his return to the Majors, but their offense could not get anything going even with Hellickson out of the game.
Cosart, who was 0-1 with a 7.98 ERA in three April starts before he was sent down, said his success on Monday stemmed from a new delivery he worked on in the Minors. He now starts his windup in a stretch position, which simplified his delivery.
"It feels good. I feel healthy," Cosart said. "I feel like I had a pretty good idea of what all my pitches were doing tonight. [JT Realmuto] and I were on the same page. I had some really good defensive plays behind me."
• Wind it up: Cosart returns with new delivery

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Contact: Ten of the Phillies' 11 outs from the fifth through the eighth innings came on strikeouts. In fact, they had runners on second and third with no outs in the seventh only to have Cody Asche, Peter Bourjos and Ryan Howard strike out. But after César Hernández and Odúbel Herrera struck out to start the eighth, Maikel Franco walked and Tommy Joseph doubled to score Franco to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Philadelphia added three insurance runs in the ninth off A.J. Ramos.
"After the seventh inning after we didn't score, I didn't think we had a chance to win this game," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I just thought that their bullpen -- we were in trouble. Joseph's big hit off of [Fernando Rodney], who's tough to hit, that was huge, obviously."

Fear the Claw:Kyle Barraclough found himself in hot water for a second straight night, but he prevailed on Monday. In the seventh, the Marlins' reliever walked Cameron Rupp and allowed a bunt single to Freddy Galvis to start the frame. But after throwing wide on a pickoff play at second that moved both runners over, he fanned each of the next three batters on his slider. Barraclough is one of the best in the Majors in the strikeout department, as his 71 strikeouts in 42 innings leads all National League relievers.
"That was big tonight," Mattingly said, "at that moment to punch out the side there to get out of that situation. It's something that we know he's capable of."

Hellickson's stock rises: Hellickson has not only allowed just one run in his last 14 innings, but he also has a 2.20 ERA in his last seven starts. So it isn't like he just started to pitch well. Hellickson is scheduled to make one more start before the Trade Deadline, but one wonders if he will get there.
"It doesn't bother me," Hellickson said about his name circulating in trade rumors. "Once I'm in this locker room -- obviously you still see it on TV and stuff -- my focus was on helping us win today. Now, it's on to the next start, so I definitely, like I told you guys, I see it and read about it, but it's been like this for a few years now, so it's pretty easy to go out there right now." More >

Scoreless in Miami: Miami was shut out for the sixth time this season and for a second straight game, the first time that has happened since putting up goose eggs in three straight to the Brewers from July 19-21, 2013. Even more, the best-hitting club in the NL hasn't scored since the seventh inning on Saturday against the Mets, a span of 19 innings.
"I think we stay with it. We just have to improve. That's all," Mattingly said of the recent offensive struggles. "There are a lot of good things that have happened over the course of the season. These guys have swung the bats well. This is nothing more than a little blip on what's gonna happen through the course of the season. Obviously, it doesn't look good over two days you don't score any runs. But it's not like we're not gonna hit. I think we're gonna hit. I'm really confident in that. It's a little blip, and you move on."

QUOTABLE
"Man, was I pumped. When I was getting into second, I was like, 'Oh, Maik is going to score. This is great.' Of course, the helmet came off, too. That was going to happen no matter what." -- Joseph, on Franco scoring from first base on his double to left-center field in the eighth
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Cody Asche snapped an 0-for-26 slump with a single to right field in the fifth inning. It was the Phillies' longest hitless streak since Ryan Howard went 0-for-35 last season.
ICHIRO GROUNDS OUT
Pinch-hitting for Fernando Rodney with two outs in the eighth, Ichiro Suzuki grounded out weakly to pitcher Héctor Neris. Ichiro still sits at 2,996 career hits and needs just four more to become the 30th player in MLB history with 3,000.
WHAT'S NEXT
Phillies: Right-hander Jerad Eickhoff (6-11, 3.98 ERA) pitches the second of a three-game series at 7:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday against the Marlins at Marlins Park. He had a 3.30 ERA through July 4, but he is 0-2 with an 8.27 ERA in his last three starts. Eickhoff thought he did not throw his curveball enough in his last outing last week against the Marlins, so it will be interesting to see if he goes to his "out" pitch more frequently this time.
Marlins:Tom Koehler (7-8, 4.42 ERA) takes the mound against Philadelphia for the second of three games. The right-hander has dominated the Phillies this year, going 1-1 with a 1.64 ERA in three starts. Koehler held them to one earned run on two hits in a season-high eight innings his last time out.
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