NEW YORK – Maikel Franco had the best game of his young big-league career on Monday night.
Franco had four hits, including a pair of homers, and five RBIs in the Phillies’ 11-8 win over the New York Yankees in the Bronx. Franco also made an eye-popping defensive play at third base.
The win was the Phillies’ second in a row and it snapped a 12-game road losing streak for the majors’ worst team. The Phillies are now 8-28 on the road and 25-47 overall.
The Phils have won back-to-back games for the first time since June 2-3.
Starting pitching report
Kevin Correia went four innings and gave up eight hits and five runs for the Phillies. He took an 8-2 lead into the bottom of the fourth and allowed a pair of two-out singles and a three-run homer to Brett Gardner.
Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda (8-4) was tagged for 11 hits and eight runs, both season highs, in 3 1/3 innings. Pineda, who entered the game averaging 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings, did not strike out a batter.
Bullpen report
The Phillies’ bullpen picked up five innings. Jake Diekman dodged three walks en route to two scoreless innings. He got the win. Jonathan Papelbon allowed a pair of runs in the ninth in a non-save situation.
At the plate
It took 72 games for the Phillies to score double-digit runs in a game this season.
The Phils’ 18 hits were a season-high.
Franco smacked a solo homer in the first inning and a two-run shot on a 3-0 pitch in the sixth. Despite not arriving in the majors until May 15, Franco has nine homers. That ranks fourth among major-league rookies.
Cesar Hernandez got his fifth start in the last eight games. He had a two-run double, a single and scored three runs. Freddy Galvis and Ben Revere both had three hits.
Chase Utley was the DH and went 0 for 4 to drop to .179. He could soon lose at-bats to Hernandez (see story).
The Phils have scored 20 runs the last two games, one more than they scored in their previous 10 games.
Gardner had a three-run homer for the Yankees. Brian McCann added a solo shot in the seventh.
Up next
Sean O’Sullivan (1-5, 4.97) opposes Yankees lefty CC Sabathia (3-7, 5.31) in the second game of the series Tuesday night. Cole Hamels, who missed his last start with a mild hamstring strain, is set to start the series finale Wednesday afternoon.