Phillies Stat of the Day: May 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Phillies this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Phillies Stat of the Day: April 2021

May 31: Reds 11, Phillies 1 -- Vinny Velo's rare misstep
Vince Velasquez had a 1.11 ERA in five appearances in May (four starts) and a 2.30 ERA in six starts since he rejoined the Phillies' rotation last month, but he suffered his worst start of the season when he allowed six runs in just three innings against the Reds. It was the first time he allowed more than three runs in an appearance since he allowed four in his first appearance of the season on April 6.

May 30: Rays 6, Phillies 2 -- Bohm grounds into record books
Alec Bohm grounded into his MLB-leading 12th double play in the second inning. It was his 10th GIDP in May. According to baseball-reference.com, that is the most by any Phillies player in one month since at least 1901. Ivan De Jesus (August 1984), Lance Parrish (June 1987) and Sparky Anderson (August 1959) were tied for the mark with nine.

May 29: Rays 5, Phillies 3 -- Wheeler deals ... again
Zack Wheeler struck out a career-high 14 batters against the Rays, marking his third consecutive start with 10 or more strikeouts. He is the fourth big league pitcher with a streak that long this season, joining Shane Bieber (four straight), Gerrit Cole (three straight) and Jacob deGrom (three straight). Wheeler is the third pitcher in Phillies history to do it, joining Steve Carlton (twice) and Curt Schilling (six times). Schilling had been the most recent Phillie to do it, accomplishing the feat from June 12-22, 1998.

May 27: Phillies 3, Marlins 2 -- Herrera cleaning up
Hitting in the cleanup spot for just the second time in his career, Odúbel Herrera racked up a pair of hits, including a leadoff triple to start the ninth inning. In doing so, he became the first Phillies player in at least the last 100 years to hit a leadoff triple in the ninth inning of a tie game. With his two-hit performance on Wednesday, Herrera is slashing .314/.402/.514 (.917 OPS) with nine extra-base hits over his last 20 games, helping to quiet the early-season concerns over the Phillies' lack of center-field production. He also seems to enjoy hitting cleanup, as his only other start in the No. 4 hole came on Aug. 28, 2018, when he hit a home run off three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.

May 26: Marlins 4, Phillies 2 -- Can't figure out the Marlins
The Phillies' struggles in Miami continue. Wednesday's loss prevented them from winning consecutive games in the same series in Miami for the first time since Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2017. It also prevented them from winning their first series in Miami since April 2019.

May 25: Phillies 2, Marlins 0 -- Hoskins' hard homer
Rhys Hoskins crushed a two-run home run to left-center field in the fourth inning. It was a 1-2 fastball from Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara that Statcast clocked at 99.8 mph. It tied the hardest pitch that Hoskins has hit for a homer in his career. He hit a 99.8 mph fastball from Miami's Brian Ellington at Citizens Bank Park on Sept. 12, 2017.

May 24: Marlins 9, Phillies 6 -- Miller's 100th home run
Brad Miller started for the second consecutive game in right field in place of Bryce Harper. He hit the 100th home run of his career in the ninth inning, after hitting his 99th on Sunday. Miller entered the game batting .317 with four homers, 12 RBIs and an .883 OPS in 89 plate appearances. Rhys Hoskins just hit his 100th career homer on Saturday.

May 23: Phillies 6, Red Sox 2 -- Shades of Doc
Zack Wheeler has a 2.38 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP through 10 starts this season. He is the first Phillies pitcher to have a sub-2.50 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP in his first 10 starts of a season since Roy Halladay in 2011 (2.21 ERA and 0.98 WHIP), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

May 22: Red Sox 4, Phillies 3 -- A milestone for Rhys
Rhys Hoskins clubbed his 100th career homer in just his 450th game. That makes him the third-fastest player to reach the century mark in Phillies history, trailing only Ryan Howard (325 games) and Chuck Klein (390). Hoskins' 100th homer came nearly a month after he hit No. 199 on April 26. His 23-game streak without a homer was the longest homerless streak within a single season of his career.

May 21: Red Sox 11, Phillies 3 -- Bohm at the hot corner
Alec Bohm committed two throwing errors, giving him seven errors at third base this season. He tied Rafael Devers and José Ramírez for the most errors by a third baseman in baseball. Bohm entered the game with -3 Outs Above Average, according to Statcast, which was tied for 28th out of 36 qualified third basemen.

May 20: Marlins 6, Phillies 0 -- Herrera stays hot
Odúbel Herrera has hit safely in nine straight games, batting .394 (13-for-33) in that stretch with three doubles, one home run and a 1.049 OPS. Herrera has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, batting .367 (18-for-49) in that stretch.

May 19: Marlins 3, Phillies 1 -- Eflin continues to throw strikes
Zach Eflin posted his fifth start this season in which he threw at least six innings without a walk. The only pitcher in baseball with more starts this season is the Yankees' Gerrit Cole, who has six.

May 18: Phillies 8, Marlins 3 -- Rare HR off Alvarado
Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run home run to right field off Phillies left-hander José Alvarado in the eighth inning to take a 3-1 lead. It was the first homer Alvarado allowed this season, as well as the first one in his career off a pitch clocked at 100 mph or harder. He previously allowed a homer to the Yankees' Luke Voit on a 99 mph fastball on May 17, 2019.

May 16: Blue Jays 10, Phillies 8 -- Maton's first home run(s)
Nick Maton hit the first homer of his career in the fifth inning. He hit his second in the sixth. He became the ninth Phillies' player to hit his first two career home runs in the same game. Rhys Hoskins is the last; He did it on Aug. 14, 2017. The others are Scott Rolen (Aug. 21, 1996), Bobby Pfeil (July 27, 1971), Don Money (April 8, 1969), Tony Curry (May 14, 1960), Del Ennis (May 5, 1946), Glen Stewart (Aug. 7, 1943) and Jack Night (June 23, 1926).

May 15: Blue Jays 4, Phillies 0 -- Phillies' quality pitching
Aaron Nola allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings, notching his fifth quality start of the season. The Phillies now have three starters with five quality starts (Nola, five; Zach Eflin, five; Zack Wheeler, five), which makes them one of just two teams in the Majors with such a trio. The Dodgers also have three pitchers (Trevor Bauer, Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw) with at least five quality starts.

May 14: Phillies 5, Blue Jays 1 -- Harper an on-base machine
Bryce Harper went 2-for-2 with three walks in Friday's 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays. He singled in the first, walked in the third, walked in the fifth, walked and scored in the seventh and doubled in the ninth. It was his third time with the Phillies and the 11th time in his career that Harper reached base in every plate appearance in a game in which he had five or more plate appearances. The previous two times with the Phillies both came against the Nationals.

May 13: Nationals 5, Phillies 1 -- Cutch steals home
Andrew McCutchen stole home in the first inning. He is the first Phillies player to steal home since Roman Quinn on June 21, 2019, against the Marlins. Both instances were the only Phillies runs scored in that game.

May 12: Phillies 5, Nationals 2 (10 innings) -- Wheeler's scoreless streak snapped
Zack Wheeler had his 20-inning scoreless streak snapped in the sixth inning at Nationals Park. It was the second-longest scoreless streak of his career. He had a 23-inning streak from July 24-Aug. 10, 2018, with the Mets.

May 11: Phillies 6, Nats 2 -- Segura's career-high 14-pitch AB
Jean Segura worked a 14-pitch at-bat before lining out to center field against the Nationals' Will Harris in the sixth inning. It was the longest at-bat of Segura's career, and the longest for the Phillies since Didi Gregorius' 14-pitch at-bat against the Red Sox on Aug. 19, 2020.

May 9: Braves 6, Phillies 1 -- Road woes continue
The Phillies have not won a road series (minimum, three games) since Sept. 17-19, 2019, in Atlanta. The Phillies are 15-37 (.288) on the road since then. It is the worst road record in baseball in that span.

May 8: Braves 8, Phillies 7 (12 innings) -- Neris goes big or goes home
Héctor Neris blew a two-run lead with two outs in the ninth inning when he allowed a game-tying home run to Pablo Sandoval. Neris has allowed runs in only four of his 13 appearances this season, but when he struggles, it often happens in dramatic fashion. In two of his losses and in one of his blown saves this season, he has allowed home runs.

May 7: Phillies 12, Braves 2 -- Walk this way
After walking the third batter he faced this season (Freddie Freeman on April 4), Zach Eflin went 157 consecutive batters without issuing another unintentional free pass before walking Ozzie Albies on four pitches in the bottom of the first inning. That was the longest streak by a Phillies pitcher since Cliff Lee went 169 straight batters without an unintentional walk from Sept. 17, 2012-April 14, 2013.

Eflin's walk, however, came shortly after he himself had drawn a walk -- the first of his six-year career. In his 161st plate appearance, Eflin fell behind Charlie Morton 0-2, then took three straight balls and fouled off a pair of fastballs before laying off a sinker below the zone for ball four.

"I didn't know it was my first career [walk], but I knew that I'm not a walker," Eflin said with a smile. "I went down 0-2, and I really didn't feel comfortable, but I was able to battle and fight some pitches off."

May 6: Phillies 2, Brewers 0 -- Wheeler keeps rolling
Zack Wheeler has been one of the top workhorses in Major League Baseball since joining the Phillies, and his 118-pitch shutout against the Brewers was just the latest example. Wheeler's 118 2/3 innings pitched since the start of last season are the third most in the Majors, behind only Shane Bieber (125 2/3) and Yu Darvish (119 2/3). The right-hander has also completed at least seven innings in nine of his 18 starts with Philadelphia, tied with Darvish for the most seven-inning outings during that span.

The shutout also marked the second time that Wheeler has thrown 118 pitches in a Phillies uniform (he also threw 118 pitches on Sept. 26 vs. Tampa Bay). While he's hit that mark twice, no other Phils pitcher has thrown that many pitches since Cole Hamels' 129-pitch no-hitter in 2015.

May 5: Phillies 5, Brewers 4 -- Another slam for Didi
Didi Gregorius entered this game batting .344 (32-for-93) with eight doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 96 RBIs and a 1.001 OPS in his career with the bases loaded. He hit the eighth grand slam of his career in the first inning. He has hit all eight since the beginning of the 2017 season, the most of any player during that span.

May 4: Phillies 6, Brewers 5 -- Cutch goes deep twice
Andrew McCutchen recorded his 17th career multi-homer game, and his first since Sept. 26, 2017, vs. Baltimore. It also was his third career multi-homer game at Citizens Bank Park. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, McCutchen is the first Phillies player to record a multi-homer game, including a leadoff home run, since Jimmy Rollins on Aug. 25, 2009, at Pittsburgh. McCutchen hit a walk-off homer in that game to help the Pirates beat the Phillies.

May 3: Phillies 4, Brewers 3 -- Neris' five-out save
Héctor Neris recorded his fourth career five-out save, and his first since June 5, 2019, at San Diego. Since 1999, Neris has the most five-out saves (four) among all Phillies relievers.

May 2: Mets 8, Phillies 7 -- Cutch HRs to rare territory
Andrew McCutchen hit a leadoff home run onto Ashburn Alley, just to the left of the batter's eye in center field in the first inning. He is the 14th player to hit a home run onto Ashburn Alley in the 18-year history of the ballpark. Believe it or not, McCutchen is just the second Phillies player to do it. The only other? Ryan Howard, who hit a 473-foot blast on Aug. 30, 2007, against the Mets.

May 1: Mets 5, Phillies 4 -- Wheeler keeps on hitting
Starting pitcher Zack Wheeler had another RBI hit on Saturday and now has three RBIs in 14 plate appearances this season. He had a career-high six RBIs in 64 plate appearances in 2019. Wheeler is 3-for-4 with runners in scoring position this season, too. Those three hits are more than any other full-time big league pitcher. Wheeler's single in the second was also the second-hardest ball hit by a Phillies pitcher (109.3 mph) since Statcast began tracking in 2015. Zach Eflin had the hardest (109.4 mph) on June 16, 2018.