The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 6-5 in the first game of the series. The win marked the Phillies’ third straight win. Jimmy Rollins provided the blast in the fifth inning that put the Phillies ahead for good.
A.J. Burnett didn’t have one of his best starts, but he got through five innings allowing three earned runs. He struck out five in the process, but his four walks and hit batter hurt him. He walked in a run in the first inning and Garrett Jones doubled in Giancarlo Stanton who led off the third inning with a walk.
The Phillies scored early on a Ryan Howard RBI double and Marlon Byrd RBI groundout. The Phillies were trailing 3-2 when Rollins’ short swing sailed a baseball into the right field seats. The homer gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead. John Mayberry Jr. later provided a 2-run single that extended the Phillies lead to 6-3 at the time.
The Phillies bullpen did their best to hold the lead. Jake Diekman pitched two shutout innings with three strikeouts, and Mike Adams piched an inning of relief.
Johnathan Papelbon, who has been under the spotlight for complaining of soreness, made things interesting in the ninth inning. Papelbon walked the first batter of the inning, but the Phillies quickly got one out on a force play. Then, the ever-powerful Giancarlo Stanton grounded a ball to Cody Asche, who winged the ball to Chase Utley covering second. It could be argued that Asche made a poor throw on what could have been a game-ending double play. The play proved to be costly, as Jones blooped a single to bring home a run. Luckily, Jarrod Saltalamacchia flied to shallow center to end the game. Papelbon completed his twelfth save of the season to secure the 6-5 win.
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