Kelly's slam, Hoskins' big fly fuel Phillies' win

August 20th, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ty Kelly has barely played this season, and when he has played, he has only 14 hits in 75 at-bats.
He has made those hits count. His pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth inning of Saturday night's 12-9 victory over the Giants at AT&T Park gave him 14 RBIs to match his 14 hits. It snapped the Phillies' six-game losing streak, preventing them from heading into Sunday's series finale with a chance at posting their second winless road trip of six or more games this century.
Kelly has five go-ahead hits this season, including one walk-off hit. His slam was not one of them, but they needed it as the Giants scored five runs in an ugly ninth inning to turn a laugher into a nail-biter.
"He's my secret weapon," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.

"It's been a wild season in every sense," Kelly said. "The first two weeks of the season I was basically not even on a team. And then I finally got settled in here and playing time was rare, tough to come by. But you just have to take whatever opportunities are given and I've been fortunate to get some big opportunities -- a pinch-hit with three guys on base, you can't ask for much more than that."
Kelly is the forgotten man on the roster, while is the center of attention. He is the No. 70 prospect in baseball, according to MLBPipeline.com. He provided a jolt in the third inning when he smashed a three-run home run to left field to hand the Phillies a 4-3 lead.
Hoskins started his career hitless in 12 at-bats, but he has hit .333 (7-for-21) with four homers and seven RBIs since. He became the first Phillies player to homer four times in his first 10 games since at least 1913.
Hoskins, who grew up in Sacramento, Calif., has hit those homers on this seven-game road trip in front of plenty of family and friends. He estimated 35 to 40 attended Saturday.
"Fate is pretty powerful," Hoskins said of his first big league road trip coming in his home state. "The weird timing of that is probably something I'll never be able to grasp, but it's pretty cool."