Bullpen struggles, Arizona Diamondbacks lose to Philadelphia Phillies

PHILADELPHIA — Clutch hits gave Arizona a lead. The bullpen couldn’t protect it.

Pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur delivered a go-ahead single in the seventh inning to help the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Diamondbacks 4-3 Friday night for their first three-game winning streak this season.

After Arizona took a 3-1 lead in the seventh, the Phillies rallied in the bottom half. Carlos Ruiz and Cesar Hernandez hit consecutive singles off Daniel Hudson to start the inning. Oliver Perez entered and threw a wild pitch to advance the runners.

Perez struck out Ben Revere, but Freddy Galvis hit a single to left-center to score two runs. Galvis advanced to second on a throw to the plate and went to third on center fielder A.J. Pollock’s throwing error.

Enrique Burgos replaced Perez and Francoeur hit a single down the left-field line. He was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

“He’s a contact hitter and he made contact,” Perez said of the 1-2 slider Galvis hit off him.

Elvis Araujo (1-0) retired the only batter he faced in relief to earn his first major league win and Luis Garcia tossed two scoreless innings for his first career save.

Phillies starter Chad Billingsley gave up two runs and seven hits in six-plus innings. Arizona’s Chase Anderson allowed one run and three hits in 5 1-3 innings.

“A nice effort again,” Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said about Anderson. “He battled. He gives us a chance to win every time out. He mixes his pitches well, has a very good change and he just pitches.”

The Diamondbacks scored three runs with two outs in the seventh to take a 3-1 lead. The Phillies went ahead 1-0 on Ryan Howard’s RBI double in the sixth.

Pollock hit an RBI single off Justin De Fratus and Paul Goldschmidt followed with a two-run double to deep center.

“We didn’t have many chances,” Goldschmidt said. “I got a good pitch to hit.”

The Phillies had runners on second and third with no outs in the sixth after Howard’s double. But Anderson struck out Maikel Franco. Andrew Chafin entered and retired Chase Utley on a shallow fly and Odubel Herrera on a bouncer to the mound.

PHILLY BLUES

The Diamondbacks are 5-17 against the Phillies in Citizens Bank Park since 2008, the year Philadelphia won the World Series.

“They had some pretty good teams,” Hale said. “We are entertainers. We want to give (fans) the best we got.”

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

The Phillies won a challenge after plate umpire Todd Tichenor initially ruled Galvis wasn’t hit with a close pitch. A video review showed the ball nicked his leg.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: 3B Yasmany Tomas was scratched from the lineup because he was sick. 2B Aaron Hill also is battling an illness.

UP NEXT

Diamondbacks: RHP Archie Bradley will make his first start since suffering a right sinus fracture on a ball struck by Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez on April 28. The rookie is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four starts.

Phillies: RHP Jerome Williams (2-3, 5.21 ERA) tries to rebound from consecutive poor starts. Williams has allowed 10 earned runs in 10 innings in losses to the Braves and Mets. He’s 4-4 with a 3.54 ERA vs. Arizona.