NEW YORK _ For two nights here, the Mets battered the Phillies. They clobbered eight homers, smashed five doubles, and drew nine walks. They pounded fastballs.
That was foreboding for Vince Velasquez, who started Sunday afternoon and likes to throw fastballs. He is a 24-year-old pitcher learning the intricacies of life as a starter while facing major-league lineups every fifth day. It is not always pretty.
In a 5-1 Phillies win, Velasquez silenced an imposing (but depleted) Mets lineup. He needed 103 pitches in five innings to do it, but he did it. That permitted A.J. Ellis, the veteran catcher playing in his first game with the Phillies, to deliver a win with his two-run double that broke a tie in the seventh inning.
With every pitch, Velasquez is closer to his shutdown date, which should arrive in early September. He had allowed 19 runs in his previous three starts (16 1/3 innings). He fell victim to eight homers in those three starts.
On Sunday, there was none of that. Velasquez struck out seven and walked one in his five innings of one-run ball.
The Mets loaded the bases in the first inning. Velasquez had thrown 22 pitches to record just one out. It looked as if the game would be a repeat of the previous two. But Curtis Granderson hit a sacrifice fly to center and Alejandro De Aza lined out to right. Velasquez escaped with one run allowed.
He threw 27 pitches in the first, 19 in the second and 19 more in the third. He needed 22 in the fourth and then 16 for the fifth, his only flawless inning. The Phillies did not expect Velasquez to resemble a polished product; he has now made 36 starts above single-A ball. He has shown, with his fastball and occasional curveball and change-up, a viable path to being an effective major-league starter.
He needs time.
Ellis, 35, is in the twilight of his career. The Dodgers, deep in a pennant race, deemed him expendable after 13 years of service in the organization. As a result of the trade, he went from having World Series hopes to being a backup on a rebuilding team.
He cried Thursday at Dodger Stadium and stepped to the plate Sunday at Citi Field with the bases loaded in the seventh inning of a tie game. The Phillies, after earlier baserunning blunders by Freddy Galvis and Aaron Altherr, had made two outs at home. Ellis redeemed them; he roped his first double since July 21. It scored two runs, and the Phillies cruised from there.
His new teammates celebrated in the dugout. Ellis, who stood on second base, motioned to them. He smiled.
