OOTP 4/19: Phillies 12, Marlins 8

A season sweep and a chance to go back over .500 was on the line for the Phillies. Jake Arrieta, coming off a fine start, was on the hill and everything was looking good for a while. Then a big inning led to another and it get incredibly tense.

The Marlins opened the scoring in the second when Miguel Rojas plated old friend Corey Dickerson, who had singled to open the inning. In the third, the Fish struck again when Monte Harrison reached an error, getting all the way to second base. While perched there, he advanced on a wild pitch then finally crossed the plate on a fielder’s choice. Miami had a 2-0 lead headed into the bottom of the third.

Scott Kingery kicked this off by kicking a ball, getting hit in the foot. Arrieta sacrificed him to second base, bringing up Roman Quinn. Quinn deposited the first pitch into the seats, tying the ballgame at 2. Jean Segura was up next and he walked, followed by Bryce Harper singling and bringing Jay Bruce to the plate. Now, if you’ve been following the simPhillies thus far, you can probably guess what comes next. That’s right - the Phillies took a 5-2 lead on Bruce’s three-run home run. When J.T. Realmuto doubled next, that ended the day for Marlins starter Trevor Rogers.

Adam Conley come in and allowed Didi Gregorius to reach on an error. Rhys Hoskins came up next and hit a sacrifice fly, making the score 6-2. Pretty comfortable right? Not so fast.

In the top of the fourth, the Marlins got a single, a single, a double, a single and a sacrifice fly to give them three runs and end Arrieta’s day. Ranger Suarez relieved him and allowed another run on an RBI single by Brian Anderson, tying the game at six apiece. It remained tied into the bottom of the eighth when Drew Steckenrider came in for the Marlins and Hoskins led off. This is what transpired.

That, my friends, is a productive inning.

The Marlins did tack on two in the ninth after Matt Kemp (!) homered, but the game ended before further damage could be inflicted.

Not exactly a game for the pitcher’s personal statistics, but hey - a win is a win!

Philadelphia is off tomorrow, then they host the Texas Rangers for a quick two-game series. After that, they ship off to Chicago.