PHILADELPHIA _ When the Phillies needed an eighth-inning base runner in Wednesday afternoon's 4-3 win over Atlanta, Maikel Franco did not swing. He watched a full-count fastball sail past him at 100 mph. He flicked his bat toward the Phillies dugout, a celebration not as ebullient as when he homered in the sixth.
And when Freddy Galvis struck, there was Franco to greet him at home plate with a two-handed high five. The Phillies, a slap-hitting team until three weeks ago, have thrived on the long ball.
Add Galvis to the list of surprising sluggers.
His two-run homer in the eighth inning scored Franco and pushed the Phillies ahead for a three-game sweep of the Braves. It was Galvis' eighth homer of the season, which set a new career best. As the Phillies' lineup came to life, the shortstop was one of the few hitters who had not emerged from a slump.
Now, the Phillies head to thin-aired Coors Field with a restored confidence about their hitters.
They have homered 24 times in their last 15 games, 10 of which were victories. In the 24 games prior, the Phillies hit 24 homers and mustered a 4-20 record.
Franco has led the charge. When he homered in the sixth, he went deep for the fourth time in four games. Franco has 17 homers in 80 games. Whatever concerns the middle-of-the-order mainstay generated last month have dissipated with the warmer weather.
Jeremy Hellickson allowed two runs (one earned) in six innings and slogged through a few jams without serious damage. It marked Hellickson's 10th quality start in 18 outings this season. He has pitched six or more innings 12 times.
He lowered his season ERA to 3.92; it is 2.90 in his last five starts as more and more scouts focus on Hellickson as a potential trade acquisition.
The Phillies were scheduled to see Braves ace Julio Teheran, but an infection in his right thigh caused by an ingrown hair sidelined him. So Tyrell Jenkins, a rookie who had not started a game since late May at Triple A, slid into the rotation.
He allowed just one run in 42/3 innings. But once the Phillies had a few cracks at Atlanta's porous bullpen, the runs flowed.
