Party in the city where the heat is on: Phillies 6, Marlins 1

It wasn’t long ago that a series in Miami spelled doom for the Phillies. For whatever reason, over the past few years, the Marlins - who were largely inept against every other team they played - brought out the worst in the Phillies. And when the games were in Miami? Forget about it. Something bad was bound to happen to the Phillies.

Those days appear to be behind us. On Wednesday night, thanks to six strong innings by Kyle Gibson, shutdown pitching by the bullpen, and two home runs by J.T. Realmuto, the Phillies defeated the Marlins 6-1. This was the Phillies’ fifth straight win in Miami, and the fifth straight series win over the Marlins.

It took the Phillies’ offense a little bit to get going. They left the bases loaded in the first, and then went hitless over the next four innings. They couldn’t seem to get much going against Edward Cabrera until Bryce Harper came to the plate in the sixth.

Harper’s home run was his 100th in a Phillies’ uniform, but the team didn’t have much time to celebrate that accomplishment, with J.T. Realmuto also going deep shortly after.

That wasn’t the last we’d hear from Realmuto who went deep again the following inning.

Realmuto’s two home runs may have overshadowed the pitching staff a bit, but they did their part as well. Kyle Gibson has had some poor starts lately, but he was solid in this one. It wasn’t always pretty, but in the end, he limited the Marlins to one run in six innings while striking out seven.

Perhaps more importantly, Zach Eflin made his return to action in the eighth inning and looked good. He retired the side on eleven pitches, and if he can continue to do that, the Phillies could have another weapon out of the bullpen.

Unlike previous seasons, the Phillies will probably actually be disappointed to leave Miami. The season series concludes on Thursday night, and hopefully they can keep the party going for one more night.