Phillies squander 5-0 lead, lose to Marlins 9-8 in 12 innings

MIAMI — The Phillies have not had an easy win in a while. They definitely haven’t had one in Miami this week. But as if to compensate for their lack of offense, their pitching and defense has allowed to them prevail in their victories. On Wednesday night, those same elements lost them the game in heartbreaking fashion.

The pivotal moment in the Phillies 9-8 loss to the Marlins came in the 11th inning. They were one out from winning their third straight game in Miami. Dylan Covey got two quick outs, with a ghost runner on second and just a one run lead, and then he induced a ground ball from Josh Bell. It took a weird hop, and Trea Turner botched fielding it cleanly.

Turner was not charged with an error, but he should have made the play. It was another rough night for him in a season riddled with them. He went 0-for-5 with a walk.

“[I’m] pretty disappointed,” Turner said. “I just feel like I’m obviously the reason why we lost that game. So I’m just frustrated. But I know one thing and that’s to keep working. So that’s what I’m going to do.

“Hindsight is 20-20 right? Make that play and the game is over. So, it’s a play you’ve got to make.”

While that play would’ve ended the inning, the Phillies bullpen allowed four earned runs through four innings pitched. Certain pitchers have been weathering large workloads, like Craig Kimbrel, who has already thrown 46 innings, and Matt Strahm, who has pitched 64 ⅓. That workload caught up with them on Wednesday.

When Zack Wheeler exited the game after the sixth inning, the Phillies had a 5-2 lead. Earlier in the sixth inning, they had 5-0 lead, their first five-run lead since July 15. But it didn’t last long.

First, Bell and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs off of Wheeler. In the eighth inning, Strahm allowed two men to reach base and Jeff Hoffman allowed two walks to cut the Marlins’ deficit to 5-3. Hoffman allowed an RBI groundout to score another run to cut the Marlins’ deficit to 5-4. Gregory Soto allowed a solo home run to Jorge Soler in the ninth to tie it up.

Brandon Marsh hit a two-run home run to center field in the top of the 10th that gave the Phillies a 7-5 lead, but Kimbrel allowed two runs in the bottom half of the 10th to tie the game and send it to the 11th inning.

The Phillies believe it’s possible that Kimbrel, and some of their other relievers, were tipping pitches.

“We’re going to look at it, because every time our relievers came in the game, they were on some heaters,” manager Rob Thomson said. “So, we’re going to look at it.

“Soto comes in and [Luis] Arraez almost hits the ball to center field. And on the next pitch, Soler hits a home run to right center. I don’t know. But we look at that stuff all the time.”

Turner mentioned that Marlins hitting coach Brant Brown overlapped with Kimbrel with the Dodgers. When asked if he thought Brown might have something on him, Kimbrel responded: “I think at this point, if I have anything, everybody knows it. I’ve been pitching a while.”

Kimbrel said that if he was tipping pitches, it was on him to do a better job of hiding them.

“[I’ve] absolutely [tipped pitches] before,” Kimbrel said. “So, if it’s something I’m doing, I’ll clean it up, and we’ll be good to go.”

In the top of the 11th, Alec Bohm hit an RBI single to score ghost runner Rodolfo Castro, who was acquired at the deadline and was making his Phillies debut. Bryce Harper grounded into a force out to reach first base, Nick Castellanos lined out, and Bryson Stott hit a double that hit the first base bag, moving Harper to third. But Turner grounded out to limit the Phillies to just one run.

Covey looked like he was going to get the Phillies out of it. But Turner’s play sent the game into the 12th inning.

The Phillies went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 12th. Covey intentionally walked his first batter, Avisaíl García, and hit his next batter, Jake Burger, to load the bases. He allowed an RBI single to Jesus Sánchez to score the winning run for the Marlins.

Thomson knows it’s been a rough stretch for his struggling star, who is the first year of his 11-year, $300 million contract, but he says he isn’t likely to sit Turner again.

“I don’t think so,” Thomson said. “We just sat him the other day. He’s got to fight out of it. Maybe that’s harsh to say. I don’t know. And he will. I firmly believe that.”

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Despite missing his spots to allow back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning, it was a solid performance from Wheeler. His stuff was not as sharp as it normally is, but he allowed just five hits and one walk with four strikeouts through six innings pitched. He’s now allowed just four earned runs and three walks over his last three starts (19.2 innings pitched).

“I thought he was OK,” said Thomson of Wheeler. “The velocity was down a little bit tonight. I don’t know if that was because we haven’t given him a chance to pitch on five days rest lately. Maybe there’s a little bit of wear and tear. But six strong innings. He gave up the two home runs late. But he pitched.”