Brandon Marsh’s ‘great at-bats’ continue in Phillies’ win over the Cardinals

ST. LOUIS — All day Wednesday, the Cardinals pitched Brandon Marsh away. They struck him out in the first inning on a slider off the plate. In the fourth, he grounded out on a middle-away fastball.

So, when Marsh got yet another pitch in the same location in the sixth inning, he pounced.

If 12 games aren’t enough to make a mountain out of the molehill of an early-season struggle for most Phillies hitters, it’s also premature to declare that their 26-year-old left fielder is poised for a breakthrough. For now, then, just add his tiebreaking single in an eventual 4-3 victory in the rain in St. Louis to the growing evidence that it may be so.

“He’s really coming on,” manager Rob Thomson said before the Phillies completed a 4-2 road trip, explaining why he nudged Marsh up two spots in the batting order to No. 6. “He’s just giving it great at-bats.”

To wit: After the first two runners reached in the sixth inning, Marsh took what reliever Andre Pallante gave him, notably a fastball on the outside corner, and went with it. He flipped a single inside the third-base bag and down the left-field line to score J.T. Realmuto from second base.

Despite missing the first half of spring training after arthroscopic knee surgery, Marsh has hit safely in all but one of his nine starts and might even merit a few more, perhaps against left-handed pitchers. (Circle back over the weekend, when the Phillies face Pirates lefties Bailey Falter and Marco Gonzalez at Citizens Bank Park.)

“He didn’t get many at-bats in spring training, and it didn’t affect him at all,” Thomson said of Marsh. “He’s so athletic. Ever since we got him [at the 2022 trade deadline], they spread out [his stance] and got him into his legs. Now he’s starting to pull the ball, too.”

Thomson said flipping Marsh and Bryson Stott in the batting order was “more about Marsh than it is Stott.” But Stott is undeniably struggling, too, with three hits in his last 29 at-bats before sliding into first base to beat out an infield hit in the eighth inning Wednesday.

» READ MORE: A struggling Johan Rojas says he’s been ‘a little shy’ at the plate. He broke out Monday night against the Cardinals.

“The hardest impact he’s getting is opposite field,” Thomson said. “Just trying to get him to get the ball out in front a little bit. Because he’s actually driven some balls to left field. But he’s seeing a lot of pitches. It’s only a matter of time for him. He can hit.”

Two days after blowing a save in the ninth inning, Jeff Hoffman received another save opportunity. This time, he converted it, getting Jordan Walker to ground into a game-ending double play.

“It’s nice,” Hoffman said. “I kind of had a couple situations like that last year, too, so I knew where [Thomson] was at. It didn’t need to be spoken. I was ready to go.”

José Alvarado wasn’t available, according to Thomson, because of recent workload. Alvarado appeared in three of the previous five games.

With rain in the forecast in the Philadelphia region, the Phillies will move Taijuan Walker and Orion Kerkering to Florida to pitch Thursday for low-A Clearwater rather than having them attempt to take the mound for triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Walker is scheduled to make his first start since getting shut down near the end of spring training with a right shoulder impingement, a pinching pain near the joint. He’s slated to throw approximately 65 pitches, according to Thomson, and could make as many as four minor league starts before joining the Phillies’ rotation.

Kerkering is nearing the end of a minor league assignment and could join the bullpen Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. He reached 99 mph in a scoreless inning Tuesday night in triple A. The young reliever was slowed in spring training by the flu.

Heads-up play by Stott and Alec Bohm in the eighth inning. They noticed that Victor Scott II made a slight turn around first base after beating out an infield hit and alerted Bryce Harper, who tagged him out. ... Trea Turner stole second base Tuesday night, stretching his regular-season streak to 39 consecutive swipes without being caught and tying Jimmy Rollins for the longest streak in the majors since 2007-08. Next up: Ichiro Suzuki, who stole 45 bases in a row in 2006-07. ... Ranger Suárez (1-0, 4.09 ERA) is scheduled to start Thursday night, weather permitting, in the opener of a four-game series against the Pirates. Right-hander Jared Jones (1-1, 3.86) will start for Pittsburgh.