Fish Fry Phils

The Miami Marlins (5-11) left Philly with a series victory after thrashing the host Phillies (5-11) by a score of 9-1 in a Businessperson’s Special matinée this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

Recently signed righthander Dustin McGowan got the start for the Phillies. He battled through a rough 2nd inning without allowing a run, and otherwise seemed to be going along fine as the game entered the top of the 4th still scoreless. But then, the wheels fell off, for both McGowan and the Phils.

It began with McGowan walking three of the first four Marlins hitters to load the bases. Adeiny Hechavarria then singled, scoring Michael Morse with the game’s first run. That was it for McGowan, who in 3.1 innings had allowed 3 hits and 4 walks, striking out 4 batters and throwing 76 pitches, just 46 of them for strikes.

The bases were still loaded, and all of them were McGowan’s responsibility. His replacement, Hector Neris, promptly hit David Phelps, forcing in the 2nd run. After getting a strikeout for the 2nd out, Martin Prado drilled a clutch 2-out, 2-run single to left. The Marlins were up 4-0, with all four runs officially charged to McGowan.

In the top of the 6th inning, the Marlins equaled their 4th inning output, ostensibly putting the game away against Justin De Fratus. Hechavarria led off with a walk, was sacrificed to 2nd by Phelps, and went to third when Dee Gordon reached on a throwing error by shortstop Andres Blanco.

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That brought Prado to the plate, and again the veteran delivered, doubling home another two runs to make it 6-0. That brought the real Miami weapon, Giancarlo Stanton, to the plate. Stanton lined his 2nd homerun of the series over the left field wall, and the Marlins lead was out to 8-0.

Apr 23, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Francoeur (3) is congratulated by shortstop Andres Blanco (4) after scoring against the Miami Marlins during the ninth inning at Citizens Bank Park. The Marlins won 9-1. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Meanwhile, the Phillies offense was sputtering along about as poorly as it has all season…and that is saying something. Through 7 innings, the Phils mustered just 3 hits off Phelps, who came in with a 7.94 ERA this season and a career 4.28 mark. But the 2015 Phillies are making most arms look ace-like.

The Fish added one more to their final tally in the top of the 9th when Hechavarria, who seemed to be in the middle of much of the Marlins scoring this series, singled home Ozuna, who had led off the frame with a double against Jeanmar Gomez.

In the home 9th, the Phillies finally got on the board with a garbage-time run off Miami reliever Nick Massett. Jeff Francoeur singled, went to 3rd on a double by Darin Ruf, and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cesar Hernandez. Most of the 17,097 who bothered to attend on a chilly, breezy Thursday were gone by that point.

The Phillies will now welcome the Atlanta Braves to South Philly for a weekend series, after which they will embark on a lengthy 3-city, 10-game road trip.