PHILADELPHIA _ The lineup Gabe Kapler posted Tuesday afternoon mirrored the one he drafted a day earlier. The Phillies homered four times on Monday night, scored 13 runs, and won their first game in nine days. The manager's job was a little less taxing.
But an identical lineup meant a second straight start for Maikel Franco, who homered on Monday but had started on consecutive days in two weeks. Could Franco's bench sentence be coming to an end?
"Let's see how today goes. Yesterday was awesome," Kapler said before Tuesday night's 7-5 win over the Mets. "Let's see what today looks like."
"Today" was awesome, too. Franco put the Phillies ahead in the sixth inning with a two-run homer. Two innings earlier, he made a terrific catch and throw home to save a run for Jake Arrieta. For two days, Franco has been the player the Phillies need both offensively and defensively.
It will likely be enough for Franco to play himself back off the bench. For Tuesday, it was enough to lift the Phillies to their second straight win as they try to right themselves after a seven-game losing streak. The reports of the Phillies' season being finished may have been exaggerated. They play two more with the Mets before traveling to Miami for three games against the Marlins. The Phillies have a great chance to recover.
Franco was one of the team's most productive hitters for the first month of the season before falling into an ugly slump. Before Monday, he had a .469 OPS in his previous 130 plate appearances. He became the Phillies fourth option at third base, falling behind Sean Rodriguez, Brad Miller, and Scott Kingery. If Franco can be productive again, it would allow the Phillies to keep Kingery in center.
"When we were playing our best baseball, Maikel Franco was in the lineup, Maikel Franco was swinging the bat and Maikel Franco was playing defense," Kapler said Monday night. "If he is our third baseman, we're a really good baseball team, so this room, our coaching staff, our clubhouse, our players, pull really, really hard for him. We want him to be successful."
Franco's homer in the sixth was followed by a blast from Brad Miller, the veteran acquired earlier this month who purchased an oversized bamboo plant for the clubhouse in hopes of turning the team's season around. The Phillies scored five runs in the inning as they turned a three-run deficit into a two-run lead. They homered four times for the second straight night, something they had not done since 2009.
The rally was a relief for Arrieta, who allowed five runs in six innings. He allowed two homers and his ERA increased to 4.33 after his first 16 starts of the season.
After Miller homered, Mets reliever Wilmer Font plunked Scott Kingery with a fastball in the shoulder. Home-plate umpire Joe West issued warnings to both benches, which angered the Phillies. Kapler tried to air his grievance, but was ejected almost as soon as he left the dugout. It was Kapler's second ejection in four games after going 236 games without ever being tossed.
Franco's home run traveled just 410 feet to one of the deepest parts of the park, but the pitchers in the Phillies bullpen seemed to know it was gone as soon as it left his bat. They left their seats and raised their arms as the home run traveled their direction. The Phillies need Franco. Even the relief pitchers know that. He circled the bases and pointed towards the bullpen as he neared second base. Franco had worked his way back to relevance.
