Phillies starter Vince Velasquez gave up

[officialsbaseball]

HOUSTON — For most of the season , Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch has worked the line between managing the workload of his starters while letting his veteran pitchers do what they’ve always done, which is take pride in their ability to make their turn in the rotation on schedule.As a result of optimal health, the Astros (97-57) feature three pitchers ranked in the top 10 in the majors in innings: right-hander Justin Verlander, who worked six strong in a 10-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday to run his season total to 208 innings; left-hander Dallas Keuchel (196 2/3 innings), and right-hander Gerrit Cole (194 1/3). Only four pitchers besides Verlander have worked 200 innings this season. The Astros could finish with three.“There’s something compelling for the starters to get to 200 innings,” Hinch said. “So while it seems like that’s fatigue there’s also a great accomplishment that comes with that. There’s great pride in those guys so they’re as strong as they’ve been the entire season.Article continues below ...“Certainly, I’d like to have that time off if we win the division quickly and be able to set it up properly, but I don’t have a lot of concern with those guys. Everybody else is pretty fine when it comes to inning totals, but I think everybody’s sightline has changed over the last five to 10 years to where there are so few guys that can last deep into games or that are allowed to last in games to get to the 200-inning mark. They look a little more like a unique pitcher than the norm.”Right-hander Charlie Morton (15-3, 3.15 ERA) will start the regular-season home finale for the Astros on Sunday. He is 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA across two starts this month following a stint on the 10-day disabled list. Morton is five strikeouts shy of his first 200-strikeout season and nine innings from eclipsing his previous high of 171 2/3 pitched in 2011 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. With his 29th start, Morton will match the number he achieved with Pittsburgh seven years ago.Morton did not factor into the decision in his lone start against the Angels this season, allowing four runs, five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in four innings of an 8-7 home loss on April 24. He is 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA against the Angels in six career starts.Left-hander Tyler Skaggs (8-8, 3.69 ERA) will start seeking to help the Angels snap their four-game skid. He is 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA in nine career starts against the Astros, including 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in two starts in 2018. Skaggs’ four wins are his most against any opponent.Rookie designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hit cleanup for a fourth consecutive game, the 11th time this month and 18th time overall this season for the Angels (75-80). Ohtani entered Saturday with an .860 OPS batting fourth behind MVP candidate Mike Trout and, after going 1-for-4, is hitting .266 with three homers and 10 RBIs occupying that spot in the order.“Right now, we’re going with him behind Mike and he’s fine,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Mike is getting pitched to and that’s important. And Shohei adjusted and hopefully we’re going to see guys on base or whatever Mike can create and that will help us to be productive.” PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Gabe Kapler is keeping an eye on the NL playoff picture. He’s watching even closer to see how his Philadelphia Phillies handle their place in the standings.He was happy with their resolve Saturday night.Cesar Hernandez hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the fifth , seven relievers combined for seven shutout innings and Philadelphia beat Miami 5-4 for its second straight win following a five-game losing streak. That clinched the Phillies’ first series victory since a four-game sweep of the Marlins from Aug. 2-5.Philadelphia overcame a 4-0 deficit and closed within 6 ½ games of first-place Atlanta in the NL East with 15 games left. The Phillies remained five games back for the NL’s second wild card, improving to 11-7 against the Marlins — including 8-1 at home.“We looked at tonight as an opportunity to gain a game in the standings,” Kapler said. “But, much more importantly, it’s an opportunity to win a series and to demonstrate there’s zero quit in this team.”The Phillies saw their 1 1/2-game advantage in the NL East turn into a 7 1/2-game deficit due to an 11-23 stretch from Aug. 6-Sept. 12 in which they failed to win any of their 11 series.Kapler has seen contributions throughout the roster the last two nights.“We’re really playing team baseball the last couple of days,” he said.JT Riddle had a pair of doubles and three RBIs for the Marlins, who have lost five straight and at 57-91 are trying to avoid what would be only the third 100-loss season in team history.Luis Garcia (3-1) got the last two outs in the fifth, and Pat Neshek pitched a hitless ninth for his fifth save in six chances. Philadelphia relievers allowed two hits, struck out eight and walked none.Phillies starter Vince Velasquez gave up four runs and four hits in two innings. Velasquez is 1-3 in his last seven starts and has gotten an out past the fifth inning just once since July 22.“If I had to pinpoint it, I’d say frustration got the best of him tonight and therefore we had to go to our ‘pen,” Kapler said.Marlins manager Don Mattingly started reliever Jarlin Garcia, and the lefty pitched a perfect first inning. Miami used seven pitchers.Miami took a 4-0 lead with two outs in the second on Austin Dean’s RBI single and Riddle’s three-run double.Justin Bour, pinch hitting for Velasquez, hit a two-run single in the bottom half off Brett Graves, runs that were unearned because Dean allowed Carlos Santana’s fly to drop behind him on the left-field warning track for an error.Hernandez homered off Drew Rucinski (4-2).“We really just had that one tough inning with Rucinski,” Mattingly said. “And we couldn’t put anything else up on the board.”SWITCHESThe teams combined to use 39 players, including 15 pitchers. Kapler hit for shortstop Scott Kingery in the second inning before Kingery ever batted.SLOPPYPhiladelphia’s two errors increased its total to 110. The Phillies trailed only St. Louis (112) for most in the majors starting the day.TRAINER’S ROOMPhillies: 3B Maikel Franco (sore right shoulder) was out of the starting lineup for the third straight game.UP NEXTPhiladelphia RHP Nick Pivetta (7-12, 4.64) and Miami RHP Jose Urena (6-12, 4.29) are slated to start Sunday’s series finale.