PHILADELPHIA _ The count was full in a tense situation during Sunday's 2-1 Phillies win, and the moment called for a fastball. Vince Velasquez loves his fastball. It is a powerful pitch. Sean Rodriguez, a veteran Braves hitter, probably expected a fastball.
But Velasquez threw him a slider. It was supposed to break down and away. It did not. It floated high, above the plate, and maybe it looked like a fastball. Rodriguez whiffed. Velasquez celebrated. He had thrown seven scoreless innings for the first time since April 14, 2016 _ the day he struck out 16 and established impossible expectations.
The Phillies won it Sunday on a Freddy Galvis walk-off single with the bases loaded. His teammates ripped his jersey from his body in a raucous celebration. The Phillies captured two walk-off wins in less than 24 hours and have won four straight games.
But it has been quite some time since they felt this good about Velasquez, a pitcher with a golden right arm. His future may lie in the bullpen. Still, the Phillies will continue to start him every fifth day with the hopes of seeing progress like he displayed Sunday.
Velasquez fired 108 pitches and 73 of them were strikes. He had not thrown that many strikes in a game since his 16-strikeout performance. This was his 37th start with the Phillies and just the fifth time he reached seven innings.
His ERA this season is 4.91. He missed six weeks with an elbow injury, and it will be difficult for Velasquez to eclipse the 131 innings he threw in 2016. But he looked Sunday more like a pitcher and not a thrower.
Velasquez used his fastball 56 percent of the time, a lower rate than in previous starts. He featured a curveball that had better life. Two of his six strikeouts were on the slider. He mixed in a change-up. He will never stray too far from his fastball because it is so good when placed in the right spots, but a little diversification could improve it even more.
The Phillies scored just once against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey despite his four wild pitches and two passed balls by Atlanta catcher Kurt Suzuki. That kept the game tight. Velasquez allowed two singles to begin the seventh inning. The runners advanced on a deep fly out to center.
Then Velasquez found another gear. He struck out Johan Camargo on a 96-mph fastball. He jumped ahead, 0-2, on Rodriguez before he spiked a few curveballs in the dirt. He teased Rodriguez with a high fastball, but he did not swing. That is when he attacked with the slider.
Velasquez departed with a lead. The Phillies lost it in the eighth when Luis Garcia's scoreless streak fizzled. Garcia surrendered a run on a single, a wild pitch, a sacrifice bunt and ground ball to second. His streak ended at 21 2/3 innings, the longest scoreless stretch for a Phillies reliever since Larry Andersen compiled 32 2/3 innings in 1984.
But Galvis delivered in the ninth.
