Utley drives in winning run in extras as Phil top Marlins
MIAMI -- It took extra innings to get it done against the one-win Miami Marlins, but the Philadelphia Phillies took yet another game at Marlins Park, 3-1, in 10 innings Friday night.
With Ben Revere on first and in motion with the count full and two outs, Chase Utley crushed a Jon Rauch changeup down the right-field line for a triple that scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th.
"I didn't know (the changeup) was coming, but I was ready to hit something in the strike zone," said Utley, who currently leads all second basemen in the majors with 10 RBIs. "It was up a little bit, borderline ball-strike, good pitch to hit."
"He smoked it...I saw that it was inside the line, but it wasn't much," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "It must've been six inches or something."
Utley, who was 0-for-4 heading into his extra-innings at bat, foreshadowed that he was on top of Rauch's pitches when he clobbered a 3-1 fastball to the right of the foul pole in right.
After an intentional walk to Ryan Howard, Philadelphia added an insurance run as Michael Young hit a slow groundball up the middle that Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria made a stab at, but when he tossed the ball to second from his back, second baseman Donovan Solano missed the bag. Instead of an inning-ending putout, the misstep allowed Utley to score.
Phillies' closer Jonathon Papelbon pitched a perfect bottom of the inning, getting Austin Kearns, Rob Brantly and Hechavarria to fly out in succession. Reliever Phillippe Aumont (1-0) earned the win after he pitched a scoreless ninth.
Philadelphia began a stretch of 17 consecutive days without a day off with the win in Marlins Park, the team's eighth in its last 10 games against Miami.
After a 2-5 start, the Phillies are back at .500 with their third consecutive win.
Howard went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk, and Dominic Brown went 2-for-5 with a double of his own.
The Marlins are currently on a six-game losing streak.
"We played a good game tonight. We were in the game," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "Our pitching was tremendous, gave us a chance to win. Once again, we're just waiting on that one big hit."
Miami has scored 17 runs in its first 10 games, a franchise-low at this point in the season.
Ricky Nolasco and John Lannan, the two starting pitchers Friday, had nearly identical stat lines. Both tossed six innings of one-run ball with the lone earned run coming in the sixth.
Nolasco gave up seven hits and walked a batter in his outing while Lannan was much more economical, allowing just five batters to reach -- three hits, a walk and a hit by pitch. Both starters walked away with no-decisions.
The Phillies struck first in the top of the sixth when left-handed hitting Dominic Brown hit a rope down the left-field line for a double that scored Ryan Howard, who got on with a one-out double of his own to right-center.
Polanco, who played with Philadelphia for parts of seven seasons, including each of the last three, responded for the Marlins in the bottom of the frame, delivering the game-tying single to left.
Miguel Olivo, pinch-hitting for Nolasco, made a loud first out to deep center, lead-off man Juan Pierre was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a hard-hit groundout to short by Solano that Jimmy Rollins bobbled to set the stage for Polanco. He was hitting in the No. 3 hole after the struggling Giancarlo Stanton was scratched approximately 40 minutes before the first pitch with soreness in his left shoulder.
NOTES: Marlins 1B Logan Morrison (right knee) began running as he recovers from knee surgery he underwent last September. ... Marlins RHP Henderson Alvarez (shoulder) threw a bullpen session of 15 pitches, his first since being placed on the 15-day disabled list. The Marlins plan on allowing him to start throwing changeups in his next bullpen session as he continues to regain arm strength. Manager Mike Redmond was noncommittal on a timetable for a return, but previous reports indicate the Marlins are hopeful Alvarez can rejoin the starting rotation sometime in early May.