Survive and Advance: Phillies 7 Marlins 6

Survive and Advance: Phillies 7 Marlins 6

The club was on the verge of a tough four-game series loss to one of the worst in the majors but the big bats showed up.

Ranger Suárez struggled with leaving pitches over the middle of the plate and couldn’t make the Marlins aggressive lineup patient.

Bryan De La Cruz singled to center field and Josh Bell took a first-pitch cutter down the left-field line to make it 1-0. The Marlins would pounce on multiple first-pitch offerings today for plenty of damage.

The Phillies’ offense came from the big bats they still had left. Even with Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and JT Realmuto down, it’s still important to notice how good Trea Turner and Alec Bohm are.

Turner singled off Yonny Chirinos and Bohm caught a first pitch sinker he liked. Like the team has done all year, they responded quickly.

Their depth still became an issue right after. Chirinos struggled to throw quality strikes all game but was able to survive. With two outs in the first, Nick Castellanos, Kody Clemens, and Whit Merrifield loaded the bases. David Dahl couldn’t get the big hit.

Turner, Bohm, and Brandon Marsh loaded the bases with two outs in the second but Castellanos went down swinging at a high fastball.

Suárez generated just three whiffs on 48 swings and couldn’t record a strikeout. De La Cruz forced him to come into the zone and made Suárez pay. He took a fastball to right field to tie it at two.

Dane Myers and Emmanuel Rivera attacked on the first pitch of their at-bats in the fourth to generate doubles. Jazz Chisholm went with a different approach for a back-breaking single to make it 4-2. He fouled off four two-strike pitches before finally catching a sinker in the middle of the plate.

Bell singled on a 3-0 fastball in the fifth and Suárez hung a changeup to Myers in the fifth to make it 5-2. Rivera was patient and waited for the second pitch of his at-bat to drive Myers in. It just wasn’t Suárez’s day.

The Phillies have shown an ability to scratch and claw back into games. Marsh and Castellanos hit a pair of doubles to make it 6-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

In the sixth, Rafael Marchán and Bryson Stott reached base but Turner struck out and Bohm hit into a fielder’s choice.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker went to lefty AJ Puk for Marsh, who struck out on a high fastball. However, Castellanos was able to make up for it. He singled off a first-pitch fastball to make it 6-5.

Andrew Nardi came in against the bottom of the order but couldn’t find the zone. He walked Merrifield and Dahl and Marchán was able to lay down the sacrifice bunt.

After a shallow flyball from Stott, Turner made his 31st birthday a little special, with the game-changing two-run single to give the Phillies the lead.

The bullpen threw four and a third of shutout baseball to give the offense a chance. It’s the way things are going to have to be for the next week. They scratch and claw with timely hitting and great pitching late in games. There are worse plans for one week.