Phils hand Marlins their 100th loss of season
MIAMI -- A Philadelphia Phillies player earned a milestone win, and the Miami Marlins suffered a milestone loss.
The Phillies scored two early runs and held on to defeat the Marlins 2-1 Tuesday night at Marlins Park.
Philadelphia rookie catcher Cameron Rupp played for the winning side in his second big-league start, and he was all smiles after the game.
"It was fun to get a win," said Rupp, who started in place of a resting Carlos Ruiz. "The (pitchers) did great, hitting their spots, and it made it easy for me to call the game. It was exciting."
It wasn't much fun for the Marlins, who sustained their 100th loss of the season.
"I was thinking of something clever to say when you lose your 100th game of the season, and all I could come up with was: 'At least it was by one run,'" said Miami manager Mike Redmond, whose team fell to 58-100. "I guess that shows we're in the games, and that's maybe a moral victory for us.
"But at the end of the day, it's still a loss. I know guys are battling, and they have all year. Our pitching has been tremendous, especially our bullpen. Those guys have kept us in the game and given us a chance to win. We'll get better."
Philadelphia, which used seven pitchers in a loss to the Marlins on Monday, needed five pitchers Tuesday, including reliever Michael Stutes (3-1), who got the win.
Jonathan Papelbon recorded his 29th save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. He got Justin Ruggiano and Logan Morrison to ground out before giving up a single to Adeiny Hechavarria. Papelbon ended the game by retiring pinch hitter Placido Polanco on a flyout to right field.
"Good job by the bullpen as a whole," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said of his relievers, who combined to toss five scoreless innings.
Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez (4-6) recovered from a poor beginning in which he lost control of the strike zone. After the first inning, he allowed no walks and no runs. His final line: seven innings, two runs, five hits and three walks. He struck out five.
The Phillies parlayed a one-out double by Jimmy Rollins and three straight walks into a two-run first inning. The RBIs went to Darin Ruf (walk) and Kevin Frandsen (groundout) as Alvarez was forced to throw 26 pitches.
"I was a little out of control in the first inning," Alvarez said. "I'm not a pitcher who walks a lot of guys. But I was pitching from behind, and my mechanics were a little too sped up."
Giancarlo Stanton led off the Marlins' second inning with a single and scored on Ruggiano's double to left center. However, Ruggiano made a baserunning mistake when he was tagged out at third -- Rollins made the relay throw -- trying to stretch his hit into a triple. Had he stayed at second, he could have scored with two groundouts.
"You just got to understand how many outs there are when you're running the bases and in scoring position," Redmond said. "I can't fault him trying to get to third, but the play is in front of him."
The Phillies (72-85) lifted starter Zach Miner after four innings and 76 pitches. Miner, who led 2-1 at the time, allowed four hits and two walks.
"Zach did a nice job and gave us a big lift on a semi-bullpen day," Sandberg said. "He labored through his fourth inning, but he made a big pitch and got out of that."
NOTES: It was a rare road win for the Phillies, who entered with a 5-20 record in their past 25 games away from Philadelphia. ... LHP Cole Hamels will go for career win No. 100 when he faces Marlins LHP Brad Hand in the series finale Wednesday. It will be the final start of Hamels' season and his last chance to get to nine wins, which would tie his career low set in his rookie year of 2006. ... Rumors are swirling that Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest and team president David Samson will be fired by owner Jeffrey Luria after the season. ... Hamels and LHP Cliff Lee appear to be the only locks to return to the Phillies' rotation in 2014. RHP Roy Halladay, who lasted just one-third of an inning Monday and has had a brutal season with a 6.82 ERA, will become a free agent after the season. Halladay told the Philadelphia Inquirer that a genetic diet-related illness contributed to his short start Monday. ... Marlins CF Marcell Ozuna (thumb) and RHP Kevin Slowey (forearm) resumed baseball activities as they prepare for 2014.
