Phillies rally back from four-run deficit for a sloppy win over Miami

It was June 30 and the Phillies were playing the Marlins, but this was a game they needed to win. Their manager said so himself. A series loss against Miami at home would’ve been tough to swallow and this has been a difficult stretch. There is a lot of discourse — understandably — about the hitters who aren’t here, rather than the hitters who are.

Rob Thomson hears it. He’s been asked about it virtually every day. But on Sunday, in a game that was not short on adversity, the Phillies grinded out a 7-6 win.

“That was a big one today,” Thomson said.

A lot went wrong. The Phillies committed a season-high five errors, their most in a game since May 17, 2005. Cy Young Award candidate Ranger Suárez, who had one of the errors, allowed six runs, all earned, on nine hits with two walks before leaving with two out in the fifth inning.

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The lineup went 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position. But sometimes those victories are the most fulfilling; the ones when nothing comes easy, but you figure it out anyway.

“I think ‘next man up’ is obviously what we’ve been talking about a lot,” said shortstop Trea Turner. “It was another day of our bullpen keeping us in the game. And giving our offense a chance to grind out those at-bats and come back. We chipped away every inning. It wasn’t just one big inning, it was each and every inning we had guys on base. So, up and down the lineup I think everyone contributed today. It was a good team win.”

Suárez did not look like himself on Sunday afternoon. His defense was not as smooth. His pinpoint command wasn’t there, and his velocity was slightly down. But perhaps the strangest of all was that Suárez didn’t record a single strikeout.

That was a first for him. According to MLB.com, Suárez had recorded at least one strikeout in all 82 of his previous career starts. But on Sunday, he struggled to induce whiffs.

The Marlins hit him hard. They made contact at 95 mph or harder eight times, according to Baseball Savant.

“I don’t look at myself as a pitcher who strikes out a lot,” Suárez said. “I pitch to contact, which we did today. So, I didn’t get strikeouts today, but you turn the page.”

Added Thomson: “I just think the stuff was just down a little bit. The command was down a little bit. He’ll get it back. He’s logged a lot of innings. A lot of innings. So, he’ll get it back.”

The defense did not help. First, Suárez was charged with a fielding error on a ground ball up the first base line in the third inning. Then, Nick Castellanos made an error in right field. A few at-bats later, Rafael Marchán was charged with catcher’s interference (which counts as an error), and in the fifth inning, Alec Bohm made a throwing error from third base.

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Turner made a throwing error to Bohm at first base in the ninth.

“The five errors were all kind of weird,” Thomson said. “Ranger makes that play a thousand times. Nick bobbles the ball off the wall, which can happen. The throw from Turner is really a designed throw, it just popped out of Bohm’s glove. They’re all kind of weird. It’s not like five balls went through infielders’ legs or anything like that.”

The Phillies have been abysmal with runners in scoring position of late, and for the first half of Sunday’s game, that trend continued. In the the first inning, Castellanos and Kody Clemens singled, and Whit Merrifield was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs, but David Dahl grounded out.

They got another chance in the second. Turner and Bohm singled and Brandon Marsh walked to load the bases, again, with two outs. But Castellanos struck out.

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In the later innings, the Phillies began to chip away at Miami’s lead. Castellanos entered Sunday’s game with a .446 OPS with runners in scoring position over the past two weeks, but he finished his day with three RBI. Castellanos drove in Marsh with a hard-hit double to left field in the fifth, reducing the Phillies’ deficit to 6-3.

With the bases loaded in the sixth, Castellanos hit a two-RBI single to left to score Marchán and Bryson Stott. Turner had the go-ahead hit in the seventh. With two outs and runners on second and third, he hit a single to left field that scored Merrifield and Dahl, giving the Phillies a 7-6 lead.

“I took good swings at good pitches today, and nobody caught ‘em,” Castellanos said, “which is always a good thing.”

Gregory Soto — who has not allowed a run since June 9 — had two strikeouts while retiring the Marlins in order in the eighth. The Phillies put runners on first and third with back-to-back singles to open the eighth, but went down 1-2-3 to end the inning without adding an insurance run.

Jeff Hoffman pitched the ninth. He induced a flyout, and then Jake Burger reached on Turner’s throwing error. Hoffman retired Jesús Sánchez on a flyout, then struck out Tim Anderson to end the game.

It was a good note to end on. The Braves lost to the Pirates on Sunday, so the Phillies (55-29) now have an eight-game lead in the National League East. At some point, likely sooner rather than later, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber will be back in the lineup, and Thomson will stop fielding those pesky and persistent questions.

Until then, the Phillies will keep grinding.

“We’re going to score runs,” Thomson said. “These guys are capable. I’ve said that. We’ve just got to keep grinding. Maybe we have to create some stuff, too. Hit-and-run, steal some bases. Marchán gets a big sac bunt down tonight. So, those are the little things you’ve got to do.”