Rupp, Velasquez lead Phillies to 7-2 win over Royals

Vince Velasquez just needed a few pitches to get going.

Nola will miss his next scheduled start on Thursday in Colorado, manager Pete Mackanin announced following the Phillies’ 7-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

During the month of June, Nola allowed at least seven hits in each of his five starts while also allowing a total of 22 earned runs as well. But Velasquez stayed in, his velocity increased and he threw 96 pitches.

Mackanin went out to see Velasquez because his hardest pitch was only 90 miles per hour among the first five. Velasquez was removed from the game after throwing only two pitches on June 8 and missed nearly three weeks because of a strained right biceps.

Mackanin said Nola will start on schedule after the All-Star break.

Alex Gordon also had a single to left field along with his home run; it would be nice to think he’s coming out of his season-long slump, finally.

Unfortunately, Yordano Ventura was unable to do duplicate Velasquez’s first inning success.

“I feel good with my body mechanic wise and the physical side of it”, Nola said. “It’ll be a couple days before we know”.

“It was 98 miles per hour so he supplied the power”, Rupp said. Over his past five appearances, the 23-year-old is 0-4 with a 13.50 ERA, while allowing 38 hits, eight walks and hitting four batters in 18 innings. Maikel Franco’s infield single drove in a run in the bottom half.

Dillon Gee and Brian Flynn went the remainder of the game for the Royals.

“Nice to see homers from the middle of the lineup”, Mackanin said.

The Royals have won 3 games out of 5 so far on this road trip, but it still stings to lose a series to the Phillies. Center fielder Peter Bourjos has been the hot hand for Philadelphia, as he is batting.455 during his 11-game hitting streak. “It only takes one or two guys to get going”, Mackanin said. “I always thought we’re a better hitting team than we showed”. Phillies OF Peter Bourjos extended his hitting streak to 12 games. RHP Aaron Sanchez (8-1, 3.08) goes for the Blue Jays. After not exactly sounding enthusiastic about the possibility of a skipped start on Saturday night after the 6-2 loss to Kansas City, Nola’s tone was a little different on Sunday.