Marlins steal another from the Phillies after epic bullpen collapse
Gabe Kapler’s bullpen gave up 6 runs in an abysmal seventh inning. (Kyusung Gong/Icon Sportswire)
Final: Marlins 9, Phillies 6
Every good team has their kryptonite. For the 2019 Philadelphia Phillies, it’s the last place Miami Marlins and their lineup featuring young, formidable hitters. To summarize: everything was going right for the Phils. At one point, the team was leading by five runs. Then the bullpen took over and faster than you can search for a dumpster on fire gif on Twitter, the Phillies were down by 3 runs. Today’s 9-6 loss against the Marlins will go down as one of the more frustrating losses of the 2019 season.
It wasn’t all bad to begin with. Lead-off man Scott Kingery found himself at second base after just one pitch on a fielding error from starting pitcher Jordan Yamamoto. After back-to-back walks from Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins, former Marlin J.T. Realmuto opened the scoring with an RBI single. The Phillies added another with a Cesar Hernandez sacrifice fly that scored Bryce Harper from third.
The Marlins responded in their half with a run of their own. Garrett Cooper, who entered this game batting .583/.615/.917 against the Phillies this season, continued on his hot streak with an RBI base knock.
The offense returned in the fourth. Cesar Hernandez began the inning by taking a fastball to the elbow. Maikel Franco followed up with a walk and after Roman Quinn and Zach Eflin both went down via the punchout, Kingery laced a double off the glove of newly converted center fielder J.T. Riddle, scoring both Hernandez and Franco and giving the Phillies a 3 run cushion.
The Phillies followed up Kingery’s key hit with an even bigger knock in the fifth. With Harper on first, Rhys Hoskins jumped on a dead center changeup and delivered a 2-run home run into the Marlins bullpen in left. Hoskins’ 19th round-tripper comes just hours after being snubbed from participating in his second straight Home Run Derby:
Zach Eflin cruised through most of this game. He brushed off a shaky first inning and cooled off a Marlins lineup that was red hot against the Phillies. The Marlins, however, were able to get to Eflin in the sixth when Neil Walker sent a fly ball into the crowd of socialites inside the Clevelander in left field, cutting the lead down to 3:
Juan Nicasio was called upon to relieve Eflin and after that, all kinds of trouble ensued for the Phillies. Nicasio and Morgan both combined to give up six runs in an absolutely abysmal seventh inning:
Thankfully, the bleeding stopped once Ranger Suarez came in to relieved Morgan. He threw a scoreless inning and a third, giving the Phillies a chance to pull off an even more epic comeback. Unfortunately, the bats were unable to save the bullpen and once again, the Phillies will drop yet another series to the Miami Marlins. Jake Arrieta and the Phillies will try to salvage something out of this series when he takes the mound on Sunday afternoon for the series finale.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Zach Eflin:
6.0IP 8H 3R 3ER 1BB 3K
Jordan Yamamoto:
4.0IP 3H 4R 4ER 4BB 4K
Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Neil Walker
Neil Walker’s home run in the sixth gave the Marlins life. It turns out, a little bit of life was all the Fish needed. The very next inning, the Marlins bats put up a 6 spot. Walker’s RBI single put the Marlins within one and his counterparts at the bottom of the order were able to get him home. While the bullpen should receive the majority of the blame for today’s collapse, much credit should be given to the Marlins lineup for absolutely killing the ball against abysmal Phillies pitching.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Sunday, 1:10 P.M @ Miami Marlins
- NBC Sports Philadelphia
- SportsRadio 94 WIP; WTTM 1680 (Spanish)
