Seventh-inning rally, Burger's blast lead to big win over first-place Phillies

[Kevin Barral]

Trailing 3-0 when Zack Wheeler exited the game, the Marlins offense came to life against Philadelphia's bullpen.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—The Marlins just needed to see a new face on the mound. Held scoreless by Zack Wheeler through the first 6 ⅔ innings, their offense scored against three different Phillies relievers, with Jake Burger homering in the top of the eighth to score the game-winning run in an eventual 7-4 win in front of a sold-out crowd on Thursday night.

The last time Wheeler faced the Marlins (May 12 in Miami), he surrendered six runs, marking the second-worst start of his season. Up until he was taken out of the game, he was mowing down the Marlins, striking out five and allowing only four hard-hit balls. Wheeler generated 18 whiffs, including 12 on his four-seam fastball.

"He was running through our guys," said manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "98 miles an hour with sink and this really good sweeper with the split working tonight. That guy is one of the better guys in the league, so to be able to win against him was pretty nice."

The Phillies bullpen entered Thursday's game ranked at the top of the major leagues, but this was one of their worst performances of the season as they failed to protect Wheeler's 3-0 lead. With two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Bryan De La Cruz smacked an RBI double against left-handed reliever Matt Strahm which cleared the bases, tying the game at three apiece. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Josh Bell drove in De La Cruz on an RBI double to take a 4-3 lead.

"Guys battled through," said Schumaker. "That [Jesus] Sánchez at-bat to get Jazz [Chisholm Jr.] up right there was really a long at-bat to get Wheeler out of the game...(Bell) was kind of frustrated during the game with some calls that could have gone the other way. Just shows you what kind of pro he is to battle back and get a big RBI double."

In the bottom of the seventh, Trea Turner hit a lead-off double and advanced to third on a throw that got away. Alec Bohm drove him in on a sac fly. That tied the game at 4-4.

Entering Thursday's game, Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman had posted a 1.08 ERA, 1.84 FIP and had only surrendered one home run. In four previous plate appearances against Hoffman, Jake Burger was 0-for-4. However, on the first pitch of the top of the eighth inning, Burger took him deep for his seventh home run of the season to reclaim the lead for Miami.

"One of the best relievers in the game," said Burger. "He's got an electric fastball and really good slider. It's just one of those at-bats that you hope he makes a mistake and fortunately for me, I got that mistake."

The Marlins would extend their lead in the eighth inning. Nick Gordon hit a double and later moved up to third base on a wild pitch. An Otto Lopez fielder's choice drove in the sixth run of the ballgame. Burger added another insurance run in the ninth inning.

Meanwhile, Marlins starting pitcher Trevor Rogers went six innings, allowing three runs off of six hits and four walks. He also struck out four. It was a good outing considering the quality of the opponent. Rogers struggled with his control early, but improved as the game went along. His velocity also climbed throughout the night, topping out at 94.7 mph with his four-seamer in the fifth inning.

"Other than the four walks, he was outstanding," said Schumaker. "Some of the first pitches I think he probably wants back, but just to start to get ahead of them more, but to get through six innings against a really good lineup in a tough environment I couldn't ask for anything more...Credit to him on all the hard work he's had in between starts."

During the month of June, Rogers averaged more than six innings per start.

With the win, the Marlins improve to 29-52 while the Phillies drop to 53-28. Kyle Tyler will take the mound for the Marlins and for the Phillies, it'll be recently extended Cristopher Sánchez. First pitch will once again be at 6:20 pm. The expectation is that it'll be a sellout in Citizens Bank Park.

View full article