Hoskins’ career game goes for naught as bullpen blows another
PHILADELPHIA » When the eighth inning rolled around, the ultramarathon between the Phillies and Miami Marlins tied Tuesday night, the only real question was who had the guts to step up and end it?
At first it was Rhys Hoskins, who with his fourth hit of the night sent a 3-2 pitch from ace reliever Steven Okert into the left field seats to give the Phillies a one-run lead over the Marlins in front of 28,073 at Citizens Bank Park.
Hoskins had two homers in the game, matched a career-high with six RBIs and along the way collected his 500th hit, a two-run double.
But the Marlins bounced back to win, 11-9, in the ninth inning thanks to closer Corey Knebel’s inability to get an out, Alec Bohm’s team-leading eighth error and Jesus Aguilar’s clutch bat. Given life when catcher J.T. Realmuto dropped his pop foul, Aguilar poked a two-run single to right to put the game away in a crisp 3 hours, 54 minutes.
Instead of elevating two games over .500 for the first time since the opening week of the season, the Phillies (31-31) slipped back to mediocrity. Since winning nine games in a row, they have lost two of three games.
After a disastrous start left them trailing by four runs, the Phillies battled back to grab an 8-4 lead, the big blow a three-run homer by Hoskins in the fourth inning. But the moment Phillies starter Zach Eflin left after giving up five hits and four runs over six innings, including two-run homers by Aguilar and Avisal García, reliever Jeurys Familia began giving the lead away.
After catcher Jacob Stallings drilled a three-run homer in the seventh inning to get the Marlins within 8-7, in came Seranthony Dominguez, who has been the most productive pitcher in the Phils’ bullpen. Until Tuesday, that is. He served Jazz Chisholm Jr. a solo shot to deep right, tying the game. Both
homers came on 1-2 counts.
The Phillies went ahead in the eighth inning to the delight of the crowd. Knebel was mercilessly booed exiting in the ninth.
The Marlins went to work in the first inning, Aguilar delivering a two-run homer after Jorge Soler doubled, and a couple of batters later, García blasting a 406-foot two-run shot off Eflin.
That kickstarted the boos at CBP. The Phillies loaded the bases in their half of the first inning after Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper walked, and Nick Castellanos singled to center. But J.T. Realmuto grounded into an inning-ending
double play.
The Phillies got a run in the third inning, but with considerable effort. Schwarber walked again, Hoskins singled to center, and Harper walked to fill the bases. If you’re keeping score, the Marlins (28-32) wanted to keep Schwarber and Harper from defeating them. And it worked for a while.
Castellanos struck out swinging, Realmuto hit into a near double-play, driving in Schwarber and Didi Gregorius flied out to end the inning with the Marlins ahead 4-1.
After Schwarber walked for the third time, the sixth free pass handed out by Trevor Rogers, Hoskins
stepped up and ripped a three-run homer to left to knot the game at 4 in the fourth inning. It was the 12th homer for Hoskins. When Harper followed with a base hit, that was it for Rogers. Righthander Dylan Fioro came on in relief.
Realmuto singled to lead-off the fifth inning, Gregorius followed with a double and Bohm — who had another adventurous day at third — added an RBI single to give the Phillies their first lead.
Schwarber’s fielder’s choice drove in another run and Hoskins belted a two-run double, giving him 35 RBIs on the season. It was his 500th career hit.