Phillies Hitting Comes Up Short Again
By Matt Veasey
Final. 3. 6. 5. 82
The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Miami Marlins on Monday night in the opening game of a series at Citizens Bank Park.
After dropping a 5-3 game to the visiting Marlins last night, the Phillies remain in 2nd place in the NL East, in a statistical tie with the New York Mets, 1.5 games in back of the first place Washington Nationals. The Marlins are just a half-game behind the Phils and Mets.
Miami chipped away at Phillies starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff for single runs in the top of the 2nd, 5th and 6th to build an early 3-1 lead behind a solid effort from their own starter, lefty Adam Conley.
In the 2nd and 6th it was the long ball that bit Eickhoff, with Marcel Ozuna drilling his 7th with two out in the top of that 2nd inning, and Justin Bour driving his own 7th with one out in the top of the 6th inning.
In the 5th, the Marlins loaded the bases with nobody out, and scored a run thanks to a Martin Prado sacrifice fly. But Eickhoff got out of that jam thanks to a doubleplay ball.
The Phillies got on the board when Tyler Goeddel delivered an RBI single to score Carlos Ruiz, who had walked to start the frame. But with runners at 1st and 3rd and just one out, the Phils threat ended when Conley struck out both Eickhoff and Peter Bourjos.
“The more playing time he gets, the better he looks,” manager Pete Mackanin said on Goeddel per MLB.com contributors. “Originally, he didn’t really have hardly any good at-bats, but I decided to play him a bit more, because I knew he had to be a better hitter than he showed early.”
Eickhoff would last six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits, walking two and striking out four. Conley lasted six as well, scattering eight hits and allowing the one earned run, walking one and striking out five.
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Phils’ manager Pete Mackanin went to his bullpen in the 7th, and both Andrew Bailey and Elvis Araujo failed him. The Marlins put together a rally that included two doubles, three walks (one intentional), and a sac fly to score twice and open their lead up to 5-1.
The Phillies mostly wasted another golden opportunity in their half of the 7th to get back into the game. They loaded the bases off Marlins’ reliever Kyle Barraclough with one, but only scored once on an RBI ground out by Ruiz.
The Marlins would take that 5-2 lead into the bottom of the 9th, when the Phillies took one final shot. Closer A.J. Ramos hit Andres Blanco to lead off the inning, and Odubel Herrera followed with a single to center.
But all the Phillies would muster was a sacrifice fly from Maikel Franco. Ramos froze Ruiz on a fastball that seemed perfect for Chooch to drive, and that brought an end to end the game.