PHILADELPHIA -- Wes Helms stretched his arm and body as far as he possibly could. But he couldn't come up with Paul Hoover's soft liner, which glanced off the third baseman's glove for the game-ending hit.

That's how the season ended Sunday for the Marlins, with a 7-6 setback to the Phillies in 10 innings.

With the loss, the Marlins finished with the third-best record in franchise history at 87-75. The Marlins also finished in sole possession of second place in the National League East.

Dan Uggla likely was appearing in his final game for the Marlins. With his salary expected to approach $8 million next season, the slugging second baseman is a prime candidate to be traded by the low-budget Marlins.

His fifth-inning single produced his 90th RBI of the season, giving the Marlins four players -- Uggla, Hanley Ramirez, Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross -- with at least 90 for the first time in franchise history.

Ross Gload came up with a pinch-hit single in the eighth to put him and Helms in the record books. The two combined for 38 pinch-hits, tying the major-league record for a tandem set by Ed Coleman and Roy Pepper of the 1936 St. Louis Browns.

``Someone will break it in a couple of years and say, `Who were those guys?' '' Gload said.

SHOWING A LOT OF CHARACTER

The Marlins endeared themselves to a group of Phillies fans on Sunday with an act of kindness to a terminally ill man. The 23-year-old Philadelphia man, who was being granted his wish of meeting Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino, was standing near the Phillies dugout before Sunday's game when Marlins hitting coach Jim Presley invited him to stand and watch batting practice.

Marlins players and coaches went out of their way to shake the man's hand and offer him words of encouragement.

``In my 18 years of doing this, I've never seen the opposition do this,'' said Kelly Yurgin, who works with the Phillies.

Said Gary Lightman, a die-hard Phillies fan who was standing nearby and witnessed the Marlins' generosity: ``I was hoping for a perfect game from [Phillies starter] J.A. Happ. Now I have mixed feelings. He made a Marlins fan out of me.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@