Phillies torch Chris Paddack and beat Marlins, 7-2, in third of four-game series
Chris Paddack’s Marlins homecoming deteriorated from a disappointment to a disaster on Sunday, when the Philadelphia Phillies torched him for six runs in the first inning and coasted to a 7-2 victory at loanDepot Park.
Paddack entered with an 0-4 record and 6.11 ERA in six Marlins appearances (five starts) this season, but Sunday was the nadir of his second stint in the organization.
Philadelphia’s Trae Turner began the game with a ground-rule double, and Paddack then issued successive walks to Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. (That ended Schwarber’s streak of eight consecutive strikeouts to begin the series.)
Alex Bohm then reached first on what was ruled a fielder’s choice; Otto Lopez mistakenly tried to throw Harper out at second base but Harper beat the throw. So the Marlins got nobody out on that play, and the Phillies took a 1-0 lead.
Brandon Marsh then walked with the bases loaded to drive in another run, and a sacrifice fly by JT Realmuto made it a 3-0 game.
And then the big blow: a three-run homer by Bryson Stott to put Philadelphia ahead 6-0.
Paddack gave up another run in the third, on a Justin Crawford RBI single, and then was lifted, down 7-0.
Paddack’s final line: five hits, three walks, seven runs (all earned) and a strikeout in 2 ⅔ innings. He exited with a 7.63 ERA and was met with a smattering of boos as he walked to the dugout.
“I reviewed the game on the I-pad -- a lot of uncompetitive pitches with two strikes,” Paddack said. “What I mean is pitches completely out of the zone, which led to 3-2 counts [and] three walks. I never could get into a groove. I just fell off, which is pretty frustrating.”
Even though the Marlins have three starters pitching well in Triple A (Robby Snelling, Braxton Garrett, Thomas White), manager Clayton McCullough said Paddack will make his next start.
“Outside of today, Chris has thrown the ball well,” McCullough said. “He didn’t have real feel for the zone, behind in the count, the walks. He really struggled to find the strike zone.”
The right-handed Paddack allowed the most earned runs in the American League last season, but the Marlins gave him $4 million (with $500,000 in incentives) nonetheless, hoping they could extract more than other teams have. But the Marlins have lost all six of his starts, and Paddack has pitched more than five innings only once this season.
To their credit, the Marlins bullpen then pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings.
Offensively, Miami accomplished little against former Marlins lefty Jesus Luzardo, who struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings. He allowed two runs, on a two-run homer by center fielder Esteury Ruiz in the seventh inning.
Ruiz, making his fourth start, has hit two home runs in 14 Marlins plate appearances after smacking seven in his first 621 in the big leagues.
The Marlins gave Leo Jimenez his second start overall and first at third base; batted Lopez leadoff for the first time this season (he had two hits to raise his average to .341) and used Javier Sanoja in left field.
Owen Caissie returned after missing a game with a stomach virus and replaced Kyle Stowers in right field in the sixth inning. First baseman Connor Norby struck out three times and hit into a double play in his fourth at-bat.
Marlins reliever Josh Ekness made his major league debut and pitched a perfect eighth inning; his first pitch was a 98 mph fastball to Crawford, who later flew out to end that at-bat.
The Marlins, who dropped to 16-18 overall and 1-2 on this 10-game homestand, complete the four-game series at 6:40 p.m. Monday, with Janson Junk on the mound for Miami and Aaron Nola pitching for the Phillies.
This story was originally published May 3, 2026 at 4:15 PM.
