Chen falls behind early, Johnson homers in loss

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson gave contending teams plenty to think about in a 4-1 victory over the Marlins on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Hellickson (7-7, 3.84 ERA), who is a strong candidate to be traded before the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline, allowed one run on five hits with eight strikeouts in eight innings. He has a 2.54 ERA in his last six starts, so he is pitching well at the right time with just two more starts scheduled before the deadline.

“If anybody does have interest, I’m sure they were impressed by tonight,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said afterward.

“It felt a lot like the first game, really,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Really just got handcuffed all night. We’ve been able to win two out of three but really haven’t scored that many runs.”

Marlins left-hander Wei-Yin Chen gave up four runs on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings to take the loss. Miami can win the four-game series with a victory on Thursday.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDHellickson hellacious: Hellickson did nothing to hurt his trade value with arguably his best effort of the season. It was the first time the righty pitched eight innings since Aug. 11, 2015, when he went eight against the Phillies at Chase Field as a member of the D-backs.

“I guess I’m anxious just to get it over with,” Hellickson said about the incessant trade questions. “Like I’ve said before, I want to be here. I want to win here. I really think we can. My focus is here right now.”

Homer again haunts Chen: Chen watched the 20th ball to leave the yard off him this season come in the first inning as Tyler Goeddel planted one — just barely — in the right-field seats. Chen momentarily passed Jon Niese for the highest HR/9 in the National League, but five more innings of homerless ball dropped him back into second. The 20 homers …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com