Phillies take two straight against the Miami Marlins after a five-run rout on Saturday

It was a notably solid outing for Christian Pache, who went 3-for-4 on Saturday afternoon. Bryson Stott also highlighted the win, going 2-for-5 with four RBI.

by Alex Coffey

Published May 11, 2024, 7:13 p.m. ET

MIAMI — Edmundo Sosa grinned when he reached third base in the eighth inning of the Phillies’ eventual 8-3 win on Saturday. Cristian Pache had just hit a single, and Marlins left fielder Nick Gordon sailed his throw past third baseman Jake Burger and toward Miami’s dugout. Bryson Stott scored, Pache and Sosa were both safe, and Gordon was charged with a throwing error.

This is the Miami Marlins experience right now, and through two games, the Phillies have taken advantage of it. Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo pitched well on Saturday, but began to falter once he reached the sixth inning. The Phillies pounced immediately. J.T. Realmuto hit an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1, and Luzardo was taken out after the next batter.

With two outs and Realmuto on first base, Alec Bohm singled, Nick Castellanos walked, and Stott hit a three-run triple to give the Phillies a 4-1 lead. They finished their day with eight runs on 12 hits.

“The bottom of the lineup has done a great job the last couple of days,” said manager Rob Thomson. “It’s good to see. We’re getting guys time off. And the guys who don’t usually play are performing. And we’re winning. So it’s really a perfect storm.”

It was a good day for Pache and Stott in particular. Pache, who went 2-for-5 the night before, was 3-for-4. Stott went 2-for-5 with four RBI. His bases-loaded triple came on a pitch that was way inside. He didn’t realize it at the time, but Kyle Schwarber alerted him to it afterwards.

“Schwarber was like, ‘Oh my gosh, did you see that?’” Stott said. “And I watched it [on video]. It didn’t really feel that inside at first, but I watched it, and it was kind of crazy.”

Once the Phillies took the lead, they didn’t relinquish it. Starter Taijuan Walker had roughly the same velocity he had in his previous two starts, and limited the usage of his signature pitch — the splitter — but recorded a quality start.

Walker allowed one run on eight hits with one walk and four strikeouts over six innings. He threw mostly cutters and sinkers to Miami, with only 16 splitters among his 86 pitches. He said after the game that he has had trouble getting a good feel for the splitter, a pitch he threw 33.2% of the time last season. So, for now, he is sticking with what works.

“I just couldn’t get [the splitter] down the way I wanted to,” Walker said. “I just kind of left it up. It was moving good, but it was just up enough for them to slap it the other way, the lefties at least. And just put the ball in play.”

He added: “I know I’ve been throwing a lot of cutters and sliders, so that could probably be it. Because I knew last year I threw a lot of splitters. But that’s been feeling good, so kind of just going with what is feeling good.”

The only run Walker allowed came on a solo home run by shortstop Vidal Bruján, who hadn’t hit a home run since 2022. It was the fourth home run of Bruján’s young career.

The Phillies starter was helped on Saturday by Realmuto, who caught Jazz Chisholm Jr. stealing in the first inning, and Bruján in the second inning.

“He’s the best in the game, and he was honestly one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to come here,” Walker said of Realmuto. “I really wanted to throw to J.T. Just playing against him when I was in New York [with the Mets], just watching him, and hearing nothing but good things. … it helps out a lot.”

The bullpen kept the Marlins from rallying back. Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman each pitched a scoreless frame, and José Ruiz pitched the ninth, allowing two hits — including a two-run home run — with two strikeouts. It was an unexciting finish, in an unexciting series, which is how the Phillies prefer it. They have won 28 of their first 40 games for the first time since 1993.

The Marlins, on the other hand, are having one of their worst starts in franchise history. They are 10-31, and their president of baseball operations, Peter Bendix, has already said that they are “unlikely to make the playoffs” this year.

Harper slips in first at-bat

Bryce Harper slipped in his first at-bat. Before he went out to take his position at first base in the bottom of the first, he talked to Thomson, hitting coach Kevin Long, and assistant athletic trainer Christian Bermudez. He stayed in the game. Thomson said he will likely DH on Sunday.

“It was more that he slipped in the box on his swing,” Thomson said. “We’ve talked about these muddy mounds that pitchers are on, same thing with hitters. Once you do that — you get a little bit gun shy on turning him loose.”