Philadelphia Phillies blanked by Henderson Alvarez
Sep 23, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Henderson Alvarez (37) delivers a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at Marlins Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The next time Philalphia Phillies’ starting pitcher Cole Hamels takes the mound he may either finish with a .500 record or pick up his tenth win thanks to a lack of run support in Tuesday night’s 2-0 loss to the Miami Marlins.
In picking up his eighth loss of the season, the left-hander tossed another strong game. Hamels went seven innings, marking the seventh time he’s done so in his lat ten games.
Hamels hit his second double of the season in the fifth inning, giving him 17 career extra-base hits. The starting pitcher had the only Phillies extra-base of the game.
The only Phillies player to have a multi-hit game was Domonic Brown who made his return to the lineup after missing time for a wrist injury.
Henderson Alvarez improved to 12-6 for the Marlins as he put in a 7.2 inning gem, giving up just five hits and walking one.
The lone walk issued by Alvarez went to Carlos Ruiz, who finished the game 0-for-3 and saw a game-high 26 pitches.
Miami drew first blood, and truly the only blood, as first baseman Jeff Baker scored on an RBI single off the bat of Ed Lucas in the fourth inning.
Again in the fifth the Marlins plated a single run. This time leadoff man Christian Yelich scored off a sacrifice fly from Casey McGehee. From there the offense for both teams was silenced as the two teams were only 1-for-11 combined with runners in scoring position.
Philadelphia left nine runners on base, stranding runners at the corners in the second and ninth innings.
Justin De Fratus threw a perfect eighth inning of relief, needing just 14 pitches – ten of them for strikes. The 26-year-old struck out three in his last appearance, leaving him one shy of strikeout number 50 for the season.
Ben Revere failed to lift his .308 batting average for the third straight game, leaving him in fifth place in the National League batting title. His only hit Tuesday stayed in the infield.