The impossible dream: Phillies 5, Marlins 4

The Phillies beat the Marlins 5-4 on Saturday, which means one thing: the Phillies have won a series.

The Phillies haven’t won a series for over a month.

The last time the Phillies won a series, they swept the Marlins in four games at the beginning of August. At that time, the Phillies had a 1.5 lead in the NL East. Now? They have a 6.5 game deficit.

It’s been a tough six weeks.

But we made it through, because the Phillies finally the majority of games in a series. Yes!

Tonight, it’s a miracle this game ended before 10pm. Both starters, Vince Velasquez and Jarlin Garcia, were out of the game by the third inning. In the second inning, the Marlins put up four runs on Velasquez, and the Phillies put a two-spot on Garcia. Both pitchers lasted no longer, and the bullpens came in.

But the Phillies bullpen didn’t fail. They succeeded, and tossed seven scoreless innings. Seven different relievers threw pitches after Velasquez exited, and they all held the line. It was surprising, because remember: seven different relievers. Seven.

The offense showed up, too. Down 4-2 in the fifth, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a lead-off double. After Odubel Herrera was hit by a pitch, Cesar Hernandez jacked a three-run home run that gave the Phillies the lead.

Gabe Kapler was aggressive with the substitutions tonight. For example: Scott Kingery started the game, but was replaced in the bottom of the second without having taken a single at-bat. It’s... weird. But it worked. The Phillies won. It’s not clear if it’s because of that, or in spite of that, but a win is a win. And at this point, that’s all I can ask for.