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 Franco capped the best game of his brief career by hitting a two-run
home run on that count with one out in the top of the sixth inning
and Philadelphia snapped a 12-game road losing streak with an 11-8
victory over the New York Yankees Monday night.
Franco went 4-for-5 with five RBIs. Before his fourth at-bat, Franco
had a solo home run in the first, an infield single in the third and
a two-run base hit in the fourth that knocked out Yankees
right-hander Michael Pineda (8-4).
Franco came up for the fourth time with one out in the sixth and
second baseman Cesar Hernandez on first When he got a 3-0 fastball
from left-hander Chris Capuano, Franco sent a high-arching fly ball
into the left-field bleachers.
"I gave it to him," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "It was a
good approach on it. It wasn't too big. He stayed on it, drove it.
That was a big night for him."
"I like to just hit on 3-0 because when I go out there, I know the
pitcher is going to throw me just a fastball right there and I like
to swing sometimes," Franco said.
Franco's big swings made him the first Phillies rookie to get five
RBIs since first baseman Ryan Howard on Aug. 10, 2005 at Los
Angeles. He also was the first rookie to hit two home runs since
Darin Ruf on Oct. 2, 2012 at Washington.
The big night also gave him a league-leading 32 hits since June 2.
Franco also has 12 hits in his last 24 at-bats and leads
Philadelphia with nine home runs and 24 RBIs since being recalled
from Triple-A Lehigh Valley May 15.
"He's been our most consistent and productive hitter on a daily
basis with driving the ball and stinging it," Sandberg said. "He's
been the guy for a couple of weeks now."
Franco was not the only contributor for the Phillies, who stopped
the 13th road losing streak of at least 12 games in team history and
first since Aug. 28-Sept. 14, 1999.
Howard added a two-run single in the third when Philadelphia took a
4-2 lead and Hernandez added a two-run double in a four-run fourth
that extended the lead to 8-2.
"He's got everything you look for in a young player," said
Philadelphia starter Kevin Correia, who allowed five runs and eight
hits in four innings. "He's got similarities to (Albert) Pujols and
his mechanics are pretty amazing at this point in his career. I
heard how good he was and now he's showing it."
Added Howard: "He's making them throw strikes and he's hammering
them."
Center fielder Ben Revere finished off Philadelphia's eighth road
win in 36 games with an RBI single in the ninth.
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The Yankees lost for the third time in their last 14 road games even
though they put the tying run on deck in the ninth against Jonathan
Papelbon.
Catcher Brian McCann hit a solo home run and left fielder Brett
Gardner hit a three-run home run off Phillies right-hander Kevin
Correia. McCann also had a sacrifice fly, right fielder Carlos
Beltran added an RBI double and first baseman Garrett Jones added a
two-run double in the ninth that made it 11-8.
Correia did not qualify for the win per official scoring rules. Jake
Diekman (2-1) pitched two innings for the win, striking out
designated hitter Alex Rodriguez with two outs and two on in the
sixth.
After three relievers pitched four scoreless innings, Papelbon
finished it off by retiring shortstop Didi Gregorius and center
fielder Chris Young.
New York's Michael Pineda (8-4) was rocked for career highs of eight
runs and 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings.
"Your hope is they can get through it and give you five or six
innings and keep you in the game," New York manager Joe Girardi
said. "He's done it sometimes. Tonight he wasn't able to do it. "
NOTES: Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira missed his second game in the last
week with a stiff neck he has had since the team was in Baltimore 10
days ago. After the game, New York manager Joe Girardi said Teixeira
had a cortisone injection. ... RHP Ivan Nova, who had Tommy John
surgery in April 2014, will return to the rotation Wednesday and the
Yankees will use six starting pitchers this week. ... New York
selected the contracts of RHPs Diego Moreno and Nick Rumbelow and
moved Sergio Santos (Tommy John surgery) to the 60-day disabled
list. ... Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said he was aware of the
vesting option in 2B Chase Utley's contract if he reaches 500 plate
appearances, but Sandberg said, "I won't operate with that in mind."
... Sandberg also said LHP Cole Hamels is still on track to start
Wednesday after missing his last start with a strained right
hamstring.
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