PHILADELPHIA -- After manager Pete Mackanin watched his starting pitchers fail to go deep into games during a monthlong slide, one could understand his first comments when he got to the podium for his postgame press conference Saturday.

"Needless to say, Lively is my favorite pitcher," Mackanin said with a smile.

Making his major league debut, Philadelphia starter Ben Lively gave his team every chance to win, and once the offense finally got to opposing pitcher Johnny Cueto, the Phillies did just that.

Tommy Joseph homered, Lively gave up one run in seven innings and the Phillies held off the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

"That was definitely special to me," Lively said.

The Phillies (18-35) snapped a five-game losing streak.

Joseph's homer tied the score at 1 in the bottom of the sixth inning before the Phillies took the lead in the seventh.

Back-to-back singles from Maikel Franco and Andrew Knapp put runners on the corners with no outs and ended Cueto's day. In relief, Hunter Strickland allowed an RBI single by Freddy Galvis and later was done in by a bases-clearing, three-run double by Odubel Herrera.

"That's what these guys all need," Mackanin said of the clutch hitting. "They need to be able to breathe a little bit knowing they can still perform."

The Phillies needed the insurance. Hector Neris allowed two runs in the ninth and was replaced by Jeanmar Gomez with two outs and runners at the corners. Gomez got Nick Hundley to ground out to short on one pitch.

"We just woke up a little too late," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said.

Lively (1-0) did not have a strikeout, but he allowed just four hits and walked three. Eight groundouts were a big reason for success.

"He was cool, calm and collected," Mackanin said. "It was really fun watching him pitch."

For a while, his counterpart was dominant. Cueto (5-5) confused Phillies hitters much of the day. He struck out nine in six innings and was charged with three runs.

The homer Cueto allowed to Joseph in the sixth came on a full count with two outs. Cueto's changeup got too much of the plate and Joseph belted his ninth homer of the season.

"That's his pitch. That's his out pitch," Mackanin said. "The thing that makes this game kind of special is Cueto's a good pitcher. He's really tough."

With the Giants (23-34) ahead 1-0 in the fifth, Lively's two-out single put runners at first and second and sent leadoff batter Cesar Hernandez to the plate. But Cueto got Hernandez to flail at a changeup to get out of the inning.

It was the second consecutive inning the Phillies had a runner in scoring position.

The lone run that Lively surrendered came on a sacrifice fly in the top of the second inning by Orlando Calixte.

"We couldn't figure the kid out," Bochy said of Lively. "He has a different arm angle and had a really good breaking pitch."

In the top of the fifth, after retiring the first two Giants he faced in the inning, Lively walked Cueto and then issued a free pass to Denard Span. Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure trotted out to visit Lively.

On a 1-2 count, Lively fired a 94 mph fastball that Eduardo Nunez could only lift to right field for the final out of the fifth.

"I heard he was a hard-nosed, blue-collar type of player that didn't scare easily," Mackanin said. "That's what I saw today."

Lively got help from Hernandez in the sixth and seventh. Hernandez started a double play in both innings and made a diving snag on a grounder to get out of the sixth.

Then the Philadelphia bats woke up, much to the delight of Lively.

"That's definitely exciting to see no matter what level you're at, you always want to be winning ballgames," Lively said of the late-inning rally. "Winning is fun."

NOTES: The Phillies placed RHP Joaquin Benoit on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to June 1) with a left knee sprain. The Phillies gave no timetable on his return. To take his place on the 25-man roster, the Phillies recalled LHP Adam Morgan from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. ... San Francisco C Buster Posey extended his hitting streak against the Phillies to 17 games. ... The Giants send LHP Matt Moore (2-6, 4.98 ERA) to the mound Sunday against Phillies RHP Jeremy Hellickson (5-3, 4.45).