Fightin Phils led by Viza's arm, Hoskins' bat

When it mattered most Monday, Tyler Viza was at his best.

The Phillies prospect gave up two hits and two walks while striking out five over seven innings on Monday as Double-A Reading beat Binghamton, 1-0, at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The 21-year-old right-hander, who faced three over the minimum, retired his first 10 batters before walking Phillip Evans with one out in the fourth inning. Viza kept the Mets out of the hit column until Jayce Boyd singled with one out in the fifth.

"Everything was going right for me pretty much," he said. "I was able to throw my slider and changeup for strikes in any count. Even when I was behind, it was effective for me to get back in the count. I was able to work ahead a lot. [Catcher] Jorge Alfaro and I were on the same page the whole night tonight and the defense was great as well."

Viza ran into trouble once, when opposing starter Rafael Montero smacked a one-out triple in the sixth. The Arizona native bounced back to strike out Champ Stuart and Evans.

"Honestly, I was just trying to bear down," Viza said. "Trying to continue to execute my pitches. It's real easy to let one base hit or one error behind you in the field affect the outcome. I was trying to concentrate on every pitch I was throwing. I had a big full-count strikeout and I was able to leave him stranded."

Viza made the jump to the Eastern League on June 10 after delivering nine starts for Class A Advanced Clearwater. Since joining Reading, the 2013 32nd-round pick has gone 4-3 with a 3.67 ERA in nine starts, with Monday's outing marking his best thus far with the club.

"I believe it has been," Viza said. "It's always good to go out there and put up seven zeros. I've had good moments in other games as well, but I think [as an] overall outing, it has been."

Phillies' No. 18 prospect Rhys Hoskins gave Viza the only run he needed with a solo homer over the wall in left-center in the second. It was his Minor League-leading 29th of the season.

"Rhys is an unbelievable hitter this year," Viza said. "It was very comforting to have the lead, pitching with the lead makes every pitch that much more critical. The competitors that we are, we really enjoy those situations. It turned out to be a huge situation for us, being the only run."

Joely Rodriguez fanned one in a perfect eighth and Miguel Nunez notched his 12th save after surrendering a pair of hits while striking out one in the ninth.

Montero (1-1) gave up a run on two hits while fanning six over seven innings.