Miami Marlins shut out for seventh time this season as Philadelphia Phillies even series
Brian Anderson tried to make a play at the right-field wall, but there was no play to be made.
J.T. Realmuto got too much out of the pitch.
The former Marlins All-Star catcher hit a no-doubt home run in the first inning — the first of two by the Philadelphia Phillies off Marlins starter Jose Urena and first of three on the night — to lift the Phillies to a 4-0 win on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.
“I thought it was a simple fly ball,” Urena said. “But the wind was a little crazy. He put a good swing on the ball.”
The loss, which came after a one-hour, 33-minute rain delay, marks the Marlins’ seventh shutout of the year and fourth in 10 road games.
Maikel Franco hit the Phillies’ other home run off Urena, an opposite-field blast to right field, with two outs in the fourth, while Bryce Harper had a two-run shot in the eighth off reliever Tyler Kinley. The Phillies (14-12) had just three more hits the rest of the night.
Urena pitched seven innings, giving up four hits, the two home runs and three walks while striking out four. He threw 112 pitches, 66 of which went for strikes.
“I thought he was good,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He was amped up tonight. He was ready to go. J.T. just caught him with one and Maikel caught him with fastballs. He was on the hunt tonight. ... He was good. He hung in there.”
But the three home runs were more than enough, as the Marlins (8-18) didn’t have a runner make it farther than second base until the ninth inning.
The Marlins managed just two hits and three baserunners against starter Jerad Eickhoff and five hits total. Eickhoff kept the Marlins off balanced with his breaking pitches. He struck out six — five with his curveball — over seven innings and didn’t allow a hit until Jorge Alfaro hit a single to left field to lead off the field (that was immediately wiped out when Miguel Rojas was called for batter’s interference on a strikeout).
“He kept getting that curveball over,” Mattingly said, “and we just didn’t seem to know exactly what we wanted to do with it. He slowed us down with that.”
The Marlins put runners on first and second in the eighth, but pinch-hitter Isaac Galloway popped up with two outs to strand them both.
In the ninth, Starlin Castro hit a two-out single and Alfaro followed with a single of his own to put runners on the corners. Rojas flew out deep to left-center field to end it.
Sixto update
Sixto Sanchez, the Miami Marlins’ top prospect and the No. 26 overall prospect in MLB, is still set to make his organizational debut on May 2.
Where he makes his debut, however, might be changing.
Sanchez will play in an extended spring training game on the back fields of the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex in Jupiter on Saturday in his final tune-up before the organization decides whether he’ll make his first start with Class A Advanced Jupiter Hammerheads or with Double A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. The Hammerheads will be home against the Bradenton Marauders on May 2. The Jumbo Shrimp will be in Jackson, Mississippi.
The Marlins have taken a cautious approach during the past couple months with Sanchez, who the Marlins acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in the J.T. Realmuto trade. His 2018 season was limited because of right elbow inflammation. The 20-year-old right handed pitcher was limited to 46 2/3 innings in 18 starts last year in the Phillies organization. He struck out 45 batters while walking just 11 in that span.
Sanchez faced live batters in a game-type setting for the first time with the Marlins on April 18, throwing 24 pitches over two innings in an extended spring game.
This and that
▪ The Marlins gave first baseman Neil Walker a day out of the starting lineup on Friday while he tends to hamstring tightness. “He felt like he could have played today,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “but we were like ‘OK, he’s starting to get going. We don’t want this to go backward.’ Hopefully, he’s good [Saturday].”
▪ The Marlins reinstated left-handed relief pitcher Jarlin Garcia from the Paternity List on Friday and optioned José Quijada to Triple A New Orleans.
▪ Outfielder/first baseman Garrett Cooper, who was put on the Injured List on March 31 with a left calf strain, played a rehab assignment game in Jupiter on Friday.
This story was originally published April 26, 2019 at 11:26 PM.
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