First pitch swingin’: Phillies 4, Marlins 2

Stott’s shot powers Ranger

The Phillies got back to their recent winning ways thanks to a three-run home run from Bryson Stott that backed another strong start from Ranger Suárez in a 4-2 win over the Marlins. Stott ripped his home run on the first pitch he saw in his second-at bat as part of a four-run 4th inning that featured back-to-back first pitch RBI base hits. Suárez meanwhile cruised through 7 innings with his only blemish being a solo home run to Connor Norby in the fifth.

Why wait?

Alec Bohm led off the fourth with a single to center, his second of three hits on the night. Nick Castellanos then swung at the first pitch he saw and hit a hard line drive to center that was caught by a diving Dane Myers.

Except the umpires were late to rule whether the ball dropped or not before finally believing it to be a hit which resulted in Bohm being forced out at second and the play being officially scored a fielder’s choice. Castellanos remained on first after the confusion and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Max Kepler then worked an eight pitch walk to put runners at the corners with one out for J.T. Realmuto.

Realmuto picked up on the theme of the inning and swung at the first pitch, grounding it just through the whole to the left side to bring Castellanos home and give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.

Stott also understood the assignment, as he had a rare swing at the first pitch and blasted a fastball 396 feet to center for a three-run home run. It was the first home run for Stott since May 17th.

Rolling Ranger

Suárez was in almost complete control of the game from the first inning. He did allow a pair of two-out walks in the first two innings but easily worked around them with four strikeouts. He was at just 57 pitches through four innings when he allowed the home run to Norby to begin the fifth on a 2-1 cutter that caught too much of the plate.

Suárez however then went on to retire nine of the final ten hitters he faced with a leadoff 7th inning single the only hitter to reach base. His final line was 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K on 95 pitches.

The lefty has been on a roll in the month of June, as Suárez now sports a 1.35 ERA across four starts in the month. He has now thrown eight consecutive quality starts, with his only start to not qualify being his first of the season on May 4th where he allowed seven runs in 3.2 IP. Since that start, Suárez has allowed a total of 8 runs across 46.2 IP.

Nonsense, but it was minimal

Orion Kerkering took over for Suárez in the eighth and worked around a walk with a pair of strikeouts. Matt Strahm entered in the ninth and allowed a leadoff double before collecting a strikeout.

But that leadoff double scored when Dane Myers singled to center and cut the Phillies lead to 4-2. Strahm then struck out Norby for the second out, but he then allowed another base hit to Jack Winkler to put the tying run on first base with two outs for pinch hitter Nick Fortes.

Fortes worked the count to 1-2 before hitting a ball to deep right field. But the Phillies were able to exhale when Castellanos made a leaping grab at the wall to end the game. Has there been any discussion about his late game defense lately?

Tomorrow’s matchup

The Phillies will look for a series win as they finish this four-game series with the Marlins at 6:40 PM. Cristopher Sánchez (5-2, 3.05) takes the mound against Edward Cabrera (2-2, 4.10).