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Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 36,292
Hero of the Game: No one, although Donovan Solano homered and singled.
Goat of the Game: Ricky Nolasco (-0.202 WPA)
Play of the Game: Ryan Howard homered in the second inning. (-0.112 WPA)
The Philadelphia Phillies took command of Friday's night game in the second inning, and never appeared in real danger of losing. Ryan Howard hit a solo shot to right field off a change-up that Ricky Nolasco placed straight down the middle. Carlos Ruiz singled later that inning, then stole second, and scored on a Ben Revere line drive single.
Nolasco's control was fine, as he walked only one batter in six innings. He even struck out four batters. His problem was commanding his pitches within the strike-zone. Far too much of his stuff was hitable. Chase Utley and Domonic Brown also homered off him. All of the home runs Nolasco allowed were lead-off home runs. In another game, the Phillies could have scored far more than four runs.
Despite scoring only one run, there were glimmers of hope for the Marlins offense. Donovan Solano hit his first home run of the season, and his third career home run. Marcell Ozuna also hit two scorching line drives to left field for hits, one a double and the other a near-home run that ended up only being a single.
Miami ultimately failed because of their poor production with runners in scoring position, going 0-for-9 on the evening. The team left nineteen runners on base, while the Phillies only left eight on base.
The Marlins have now lost three consecutive games, and will have to face an even greater challenge in Cole Hamels. They will place their trust in Jose Fernandez to contain the Phillies home run machine.