Hellickson, Phillies trump Royals
PHILADELPHIA -- Jeremy Hellickson won his second consecutive start, and Odubel Herrera homered and drove in two runs as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 Friday night for their fourth straight victory.
Cameron Rupp went 3-for-4 and Maikel Franco was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Phillies.
Kendrys Morales hit a two-run homer for Kansas City, which lost for just the second time in six games.
Hellickson, who ended a personal four-game losing streak by beating the San Francisco Giants his last time out, went six innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out six and walking one. He evened his record at 6-6.
Edubray Ramos pitched a scoreless inning in relief, but David Hernandez allowed Morales' two-run homer in the eighth, cutting the Phillies' lead to 4-3.
Jeanmar Gomez worked a perfect ninth for his 22nd save.
Royals starter Ian Kennedy (6-7) worked five innings and allowed three runs on six hits while striking out eight and walking three.
Herrera, leading off the bottom of the first, hit Kennedy's 1-0 fastball into the seats in center field, his ninth homer of the season and the first leadoff shot of his career.
The Royals knotted it in the second, when with two outs Alcides Escobar doubled and Cheslor Cuthbert followed with an RBI single.
In the Philadelphia third, however, Kennedy walked Herrera, who moved to third on a steal and a throwing error by catcher Salvador Perez. Cody Asche walked with two outs to put runners at the corners, but was called out by umpire Dan Bellino on Perez's pickoff throw to first baseman Eric Hosmer.
The Phillies challenged the call and it was overturned, allowing the inning to continue. Maikel Franco singled to drive Herrera home, giving Philadelphia a 2-1 lead.
Asche made it 3-1 with an RBI double in the fifth. He drove in Peter Bourjos, who legged out an infield single.
The Phillies added a run off reliever Chien-Ming Wang in the sixth, when Cesar Hernandez singled, stole second and rode home on Herrera's single.
Morales' homer was his 12th of the season, and it extended his hitting streak to seven games. His streak of multi-hit games ended at six, however.
NOTES: Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said the start by slumping RHP Aaron Nola on Saturday against the Royals is "very important" for the 23-year-old's confidence. Nola is 0-3 with a 15.23 ERA over his last four starts, and has not lasted longer than 3 2/3 innings in any of them. Mackanin said location has been the issue, that Nola has been unable to get the ball down in the strike zone as regularly as he did earlier in the season. ... Kansas City RF Kendrys Morales was named Royals Majestic Player of the Month for June, a month in which he hit .402 to raise his average from .193 to .262. He also had five homers and 18 RBIs in the month, and ended it with six straight multi-hit games.