The Philadelphia Phillies are going for a sweep of the visiting Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon, but the final half-inning of Saturday’s contest created an unexpected shift in momentum heading into the series finale.
Philadelphia led 11-4 heading into the ninth inning Saturday before Miami scored six times against reliever Jordan Romano. The Phillies were forced to call upon closer Jose Alvarado in a bid to secure the final out.
The Phillies recorded 18 hits — including four by Trea Turner — in the game, yet they watched Romano get booed off the field in the ninth. Afterward, manager Rob Thomson was asked about the veteran right-hander’s struggles this season.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” Thomson said. “He’s got a great track record. As long as the stuff is good, you’ve got to believe in him.”
Thomson insisted that the ninth-inning drama didn’t take away from a positive performance from his lineup, which compiled 11 runs without hitting a home run. Bryson Stott and Johan Rojas, who notched three hits apiece, were among the standouts on Saturday as Philadelphia won its third straight game.
“There was a lot of little things that we did to really play a good offensive game,” Thomson said.
Meanwhile, Miami was in good spirits following the game, even though it dropped its fifth straight contest. The ninth-inning fireworks, which included home runs by Dane Myers and Liam Hicks, created a silver lining for Marlins manager Clayton McCullough.
“Love the way it finished,” McCullough said. “Love the way that we fought back in there late in the game to scratch back and end up bringing the tying run to the plate, then to get their closer in. Hats off to our whole crew for hanging in there and continuing to play and keep going all the way through 27 outs. So from that end, it was great.”
Still, the Marlins are aiming to avoid their second straight series sweep Sunday — and their starting pitcher is going through some issues of his own.
Connor Gillispie (0-2, 6.63 ERA) was reasonably effective through his first three starts, but his outing Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks was a mess. The right-hander gave up eight runs, eight hits and two walks in five innings as Miami dropped a 10-4 decision.
“A tough one, for sure,” said Gillispie, who is facing the Phillies for the first time in his career.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia starter Jesus Luzardo (2-0, 2.31) is quite familiar with the Marlins after playing for them over the previous four seasons.
Luzardo, who came over in an offseason trade, allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings in Tuesday’s 6-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. The three runs marked a season high for the left-hander, while his four strikeouts were his lowest total of the year.
“He was good,” Thomson said that day. “I thought his secondary pitches got better as the game went on.”
Luzardo will not face former teammate Griffin Conine on Sunday after the Marlins outfielder dislocated his left shoulder on a slide into second base in the sixth inning of Saturday’s affair.
“It’s unfortunate that that happened, because that’s what this guy does — he only knows one way to play,” McCullough said of Conine’s RBI double. “Unfortunate there, he’s going in for the hustle double, and he just kind of hit the ground a little awkwardly.”
–Field Level Media
