Phillies pound Marlins bullpen to salvage series finale

Saturday afternoon saw the Miami Marlins fight back from a 6-1 deficit versus the Philadelphia Phillies at Marlins Park to clinch a 9-6 victory. Sunday’s story had some similarities...until the bullpen took over. The Phillies piled on runs in the later innings, gliding past the Fish, 13-6, to avoid the series sweep.

The Marlins turned to righty Trevor Richards as their starter, looking to bounce back after a poor outing this past Tuesday night against the Washington Nationals. History was not on his side: in five previous career starts against the Phillies, Richards’ ERA was a wobbling 6.64.

The Phils opened the contest Sunday with a Bryce Harper RBI single to center, scoring Jean Segura. Prior to Harper’s first plate appearance, the former Washington National was 1-for-7 in the series. Richards wound up tossing five innings, allowing three runs.

Jake Arrieta was already familiar with the Marlins, boasting a career record that stood at 7-1 in 10 games.

Trailing 2-0 in the third, Harold Ramirez brought home Richards from third, after Richards and Miguel Rojas produced back-to-back hits.

In the next half inning, though, Richards’ changeup fell right down the middle. Brad Miller took advantage and crushed a solo shot into the upper deck out in right field, extending Philadelphia’s edge to 3-1.

Wei-Yin Chen’s sixth-inning relief appearance turned into a nightmare. The lefty faced five batters andall reached base safely. Miller singled home former Marlin J.T. Realmuto, which made it 4-1. One hitter later, Arrieta blooped a two-run single to left, scoring Hernández and Miller, extending Philadelphia’s lead to 6-1.

Replacing Chen in the sixth, Jeff Brigham coughed up four runs in three innings of work, including a two-run opposite-field homer into The Clevelander in the eighth. Chen and Brigham coughed up eight earned runs combined.

Miami pitching did a tremendous job of keeping Segura, Harper and Realmuto off the basepaths Friday and Saturday, but the three were a combined 8-for-11 Sunday with 4 RBIs.

The Marlins, at 32-50, will hit the road and open a six-game road stay Tuesday night against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Miami will send righty Zac Gallen to the mound, eyeing his first career victory. He took a loss in his last time out at Marlins Park versus Washington, after working five innings and giving up three runs. Lefty Patrick Corbin will take the ball for the third time in 2019 against the Marlins. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Phillies vs. Marlins box score (Baseball Theater)

Fish Picks answer key

1. No
2. No
3. Yes
4. No
5. No
6. Yes
7. Yes
8. No
9. No
10. Over
11. Phillies