Rehabbing pitcher Kris Benson picked up his first win in almost two years last night as the Iron PIgs beat the Durham Bulls 4-2.  Benson went six innings, allowing six hits, and one earned run.  He also struck out four and walked none.

Benson (1-4, 8.42), hasn’t pitched since July 9th where he was shelled against Louisville, giving up seven runs in four innings. 

The twelve-day layoff did Benson some good, he was able to rest his shoulder, and step away from baseball for a few days.  It also gave him the opportunity to watch video of his windup with pitching coach Rod Nichols, where they found a flaw in his mechanics.  Benson had been dropping his elbow. 

”It should be up higher earlier, so it drives the ball down, and I was able to do that today,” Benson said. ”You could see with my slider today. Righties were hitting about 100 points higher than lefties so far, and the reason why was because my slider was non-existent the whole time I’ve been here. But today I got some more ground balls so I got a better angle on it. The big thing was I had the strikeouts today, which normally isn’t a big deal. But for me, just to get guys missing the ball is a big thing,” he added. ”What I’ve been lacking here has been my fastball command and my slider, and I had both working today.”

Benson’s pitches did have more movement on them, and his velocity was bad, topping out at 91mph, but consistantly staying in the high 80′s.

At best this is encouraging, but a step in the right direction.  Before I hold out any hope Benson will see time in Philadelphia this season, I’d rather wait to see if he can build off this start.

While most have written Benson off for the Phillies (myself included), he could very much be a wild card for this team down the stretch.  Should Brett Myers struggles continue at the big-league level, and management moves him to the bullpen (probably the best spot for him on this team), they’ll look to Benson or J.A. Happ to pick up the slack.