The Miami Marlins hanged tough with the scorching hot Phillies but eventually fell short in the ninth inning. Rhys Hoskins shot a laser to left-center field, scoring Matt Vierling to take down the Marlins by a final score of 3-2 in Philadelphia on Monday night.
MV3
Through the first two innings, the Phillies got a baserunner on in each inning against Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara but could not push anything across. It took until the third inning. Schwarber and Hoskins both reached base to start the top of the third. Then, Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate, and did what the reigning MVP is supposed to do, and came up clutch. Harper knocked one to center field that dropped in for a double. Schwarber came in to score, while Hoskins stopped at third. Fortunately for the Marlins, they escaped trouble with only one run allowed.
The Phillies Killer Leads The Charge
In his career, Miguel Rojas owns a .310 batting average against the Phillies. He loves playing the Phils, especially in Citizens Bank Park. He once again hurt the Phillies in a big way in the fifth. After making a splendid play in the field, he stepped in with Jon Berti on second base. Rojas roped one into left-center field to tie the game at one.
Later on, he gave the Marlins the lead. After a one-out single from Jon Berti (two hits on the night), Miguel Rojas stood in and waited for Berti to swipe second base. He did just that, and then Miguel cut at a fastball from Aaron Nola and took it for a ride to center. He would end up on second, while Jon Berti ran back to the dugout to the enthusiastic Marlins bench. Nola would get out of the jam though, and polished off another quality seven-inning outing in which he struck out six Marlins batters. Sandy Alcantara was arguably better, as in seven and 2/3rds innings, he struck out five and only allowed six hits.
Alcantara could not escape the eighth inning, however, as he left the game with a runner on third in Rhys Hoskins. Steven Okert came in for the Fish, and it didn’t take Didi Gregorious long to pull a ball down the line into right field, scoring Hoskins easily from third. In the ninth, Miami went down in order, leaving the door open for the Phillies in the bottom half of the ninth.
Heartbreak
Anthony Bass came in to face the tail end of the Phillies order plus Kyle Schwarber. Or at least that’s ideally what should have happened. But, Matt Vierling got on base via a single to left. After Schwarber struck out looking, Matt Vierling decided to help out Rhys Hoskins and stole second base. Two pitches later, Hoskins put this game to an end as he laced one to Jesus Sanchez in left field and won the game for the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2.
What’s Next for the Miami Marlins?
The Marlins have two more games against the Phillies in Philadelphia, with Tuesday’s game at 7:05 PM EST, and Wednesday’s finale at 1:05 PM EST.