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Philadelphia Phillies hang on to beat San Francisco Giants, 9-7

By Jeff Neiburg, The Sports Xchange
The Phillies hung on to beat the Giants 9-7 on Sunday. Photo courtesy Philadelphia Phillies/Twitter
The Phillies hung on to beat the Giants 9-7 on Sunday. Photo courtesy Philadelphia Phillies/Twitter

PHILADELPHIA -- Manager Pete Mackanin said Saturday he hoped struggling hitters Maikel Franco and Odubel Herrera were getting back on the right track for his Philadelphia Phillies

If Sunday is any indication, maybe they are.

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Each player hit a home run, Freddy Galvis homered twice and the Phillies outlasted the San Francisco Giants 9-7 at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies (19-35) won consecutive games for the first time since April 27.

"Everybody has been frustrated," Mackanin said. "It was good to see the guys bust out."

Franco launched a tiebreaking home run in the eighth. He got an elevated fastball from Giants reliever Derek Law (3-1) that he took to the seats in right-center to give the Phillies the lead. Two batters later, Galvis hit his second home run of the game -- his first career multi-homer game -- to extend the lead to 9-7.

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"I think the offense is putting stuff together," Galvis said. "We have to continue to do it."

"We feel pretty good right now," Franco said. "We're playing the game the right way."

Herrera had two doubles in addition to his solo home run and recorded three RBI.

Pat Neshek (1-1) picked up the win with a clean eighth inning. Hector Neris notched his fifth save.

Neither starting pitcher, Philadelphia's Jeremy Hellickson or San Francisco's Matt Moore, factored in the result.

The Phillies led for much of the game before the Giants (22-35) stormed back late.

Herrera hit a home run to center field in the fifth inning to extend the Philadelphia lead to 6-3.

But the Giants wouldn't go away.

With the bases loaded in the seventh, Brandon Crawford smacked a two-run single into left-center to give San Francisco a 7-6 lead.

It was short lived.

"We fight and fight and came back to win the game," Galvis said.

Crawford contributed to ending Hellickson's night in the sixth when he launched a two-run home run, an opposite-field blast to left that turned a three-run Phillies lead into a one-run lead at 6-5.

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Joe Panik hit a one-out double that sent Mackanin out to get Hellickson. But with a runner in scoring position and less than two outs, the Giants couldn't take advantage. Again, in the seventh, after Crawford gave them the lead, they failed to pile more on with a runner in scoring position and less than two outs. Nick Hundley grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Giants left five on base for the day.

"We could've really added on a little more," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We had them on the ropes."

Hellickson lasted 5 1/3 innings. He allowed four hits and five runs (three earned) while walking and striking out four.

His counterpart Moore lasted just four innings and also allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits. He walked a pair and struck out one.

"He was battling out there but it was evident that he wasn't on top of his game," Bochy said.

The team's traded runs in the first inning.

After Eduardo Nunez homered to give the Giants a 1-0 lead in the top half, the Phillies scored a pair in the bottom half on run-scoring doubles off the bat of Herrera and Howie Kendrick.

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Galvis hit a two-run home run off Moore in the second to extend the lead to 4-1.

But Hellickson had a shaky third inning. A one-out single by Moore was followed by a ground ball to first base that Tommy Joseph fielded and threw toward second, but the ball hit Moore in the helmet and went into left field, allowing Moore to go to third.

Hellickson walked the next two batters, allowing a run to cross the plate before Buster Posey's sacrifice fly cut the lead to 4-3.

A wild pitch by Moore in the third pushed the Philadelphia lead to 5-3.

"We just didn't execute pitches very well today and we got what you're going to get when you don't make pitches," Bochy said.

The Phillies, of course, were happy to take advantage.

NOTES: Phillies SS Freddy Galvis became the first Phillies player to homer from both sides of the plate since Jimmy Rollins did so in 2011. ... With the win, Philadelphia avoided losing its 11th consecutive series, a feat the Phillies hadn't endured since 1941. ... San Francisco OF Hunter Pence (hamstring) made his return when he entered the game as a defensive substitution in the seventh. He had not played since May 12. Pence grounded into a double play in his only time at the plate. ... The Phillies begin a four-game series in Atlanta on Monday. ... San Francisco continues on to Milwaukee for a four-game set, also beginning Monday.

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