Phillies Win to Move Into Tie for First

2. 82. 4. 6. Final

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Miami Marlins on Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

Your Philadelphia Phillies are in first place in the National League East! Nope, you’re not reading some hypothetical, fantastical, daydream of a headline, my fellow Phils fans.

With their 4-2 victory over the Miami Marlins in a Wednesday afternoon matinée’ which served as the series finale, not only did the Phils take the series from the Fish, but the club moved into a virtual tie for 1st place with the Washington Nationals.

That tie could conceivably last just a few hours. The Nats will take on the New York Mets this evening. Should the Nationals win, they move 1/2 game ahead of the Phils. Should the Mets come out victorious, then the NL East standings will show the Phils and Mets tied, a half up on D.C..

It was the Phillies usual recipe stirred together by manager Pete Mackanin and crew that resulted in this latest win. Strong starting pitching and bullpen work, and just enough timely offense to come out on top.

Jeremy Hellickson got the start, and much as with yesterday’s starter Vincent Velasquez, he got himself into 1st inning trouble. However, unlike Velasquez, he did not wriggle out unscathed.

The Marlins scored twice in that top of the 1st inning on a one-out RBI double off the bat of Christian Yelich, and a two-out double from center fielder Marcel Ozuna to take the early 2-0 lead.

In between those two, Hellickson struck out the always dangerous Giancarlo Stanton. It would prove to be the beginning of a long night for one of baseball’s best sluggers.

Stanton would wear a “golden sombrero” on the day, striking out all four times that he came to the plate. He went 0-10 with nine punchouts on the series, and is 1-18 with a dozen strikeouts against Phillies pitching this season.

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The Phillies finally got it going against Marlins starter Tom Koehler in the bottom of the 3rd, scoring three times to take the lead.

David Lough led off by reaching on an error by Miami 1st baseman Justin Bour. Cesar Hernandez immediately followed with a base hit, and then Andres Blanco doubled home Lough to cut the deficit to 2-1.

After Ryan Howard struck out, the Marlins intentionally walked Maikel Franco to load the bases, bringing Cameron Rupp to the plate. Rupp made them pay, grounding a two-run single to center field, pushing the Phils on top by a 3-2 score.

Koehler would make it through seven innings even though he allowed seven hits and walked five. Meanwhile, Hellickson lasted six for the Phils, allowing five hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

“He continues to throw an outstanding changeup,” Mackanin said per MLB.com’s Evan Webeck. “He’s changing speeds and he’s been spotting his fastball very well. I think that’s what you call pitching.”

The Phillies bullpen then took command. David Hernandez, Hector Neris, and Jeanmar Gomez did what they have done to so many opponents in recent weeks by completely shutting down the Marlins’ lineup.

With one out in the bottom of the 8th and facing a full count pitch from Marlins reliever Jose Urena, rookie Tyler Goeddel gave the club some much-needed breathing room by blasting the first home run of his big league career out over the wall in left-center field.

“I was looking for a fastball and got one,” Goeddel said per Webeck. “I got some air on it for the first time in a while.”

Gomez shut the Marlins down in the 9th for his NL-leading 16th Save, and the Phillies had grabbed a share of the division lead for the first time this late in a season since they won the crown back in 2011.

The Phillies now receive a well-deserved day off at home on Thursday before opening a weekend set down in South Philly against the worst team in baseball, the Atlanta Braves.

Next: Phils Back on Winning Track

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