Rookie pitcher Alec Asher's strong performance wasn't enough to propel the Philadelphia Phillies (57-96) to a victory over the Miami Marlins (66-87) on Thursday night. Asher threw seven solid innings, only allowing a run in his final inning of work. He moved to a 0-5 record on the season, despite having his best outing of his young career thus far.
For the Marlins, Jarred Cosart was looking to bounce back after a rough season. The Phillies drafted the right-hander in the 38th round of the 2008 amateur draft. Cosart was traded to the Houston Astros in the Hunter Pence deal in 2011, and then traded to the Marlins at the 2014 trade deadline. He's had a bit of a roller coaster ride this season, spending some time both in the Marlins' bullpen and with their Triple-A squad. Cosart has posted a 2-4 record with a 4.43 ERA this season.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Phillies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Marlins |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – |
1 | 4 | 0 |
Cosart was hit with a line drive off the bat of Cody Asche in the top of the 4th inning. He managed to finish the inning without letting up a run, but was obviously in a lot of pain.
Asher faced his first bit of trouble in the bottom of the 4th, when Christian Yelich reached on an error by second baseman Andres Blanco and Marcell Ozuna walked. However, Asher struck out Derek Dietrich and got J.T. Realmuto to pop out to Blanco to end the threat.
Cosart threw one warm-up pitch in the 5th before deciding that he couldn't continue in the game and the Marlins 'pen started their day earlier than expected.
Asher not only got his first major league hit, a single in the top of the 3rd, but also doubled in the top of the 5th for his first career extra-base hit. Freddy Galvis moved him over to third with a groundout to the pitcher, but the threat was ended when Brian Bogusevic also grounded out to the pitcher.
The Marlins struck first on the offensive front in the 7th inning. After a ground out by Ozuna, Dietrich reached on an infield single. Realmuto followed with a triple over the head of center fielder Odubel Herrera, scoring Dietrich for the first run of the game. Miguel Rojas flew out to right fielder Bogusevic, and Realmuto tried to tag up and score another run. However, he was thrown out at the plate and Asher limited the Marlins to a single run in the inning. This turned out to be the only run that they would need to secure the victory.
The bats were cold for the Phillies tonight, as they only had five hits on the night, with two of them by their starting pitcher. Credit has to be given to the Marlins 'pen, though, as they pitched five scoreless innings in relief of the injured Cosart.
Starting Pitchers
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alec Asher | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7.52 |
| Jarred Cosart | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.15 |
- Asher: L; 90 pitches, 58 strikes; 11 groundouts, 4 flyouts; 26 faced batters
- Cosart: ND ; 61 pitches, 34 strikes; 6 groundouts, 2 flyouts; 16 faced batters
Out of the 'Pen
Phillies
- Adam Loewen (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 7.56 ERA
Marlins
- Jose Urena (5th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 5.19 ERA
- Chris Narveson (6th, 7th): 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, 5.06 ERA
- Bryan Morris (7th): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 3.17 ERA
- Mike Dunn (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 4.56 ERA
- A.J. Ramos (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 2.41 ERA
At the Plate
Phillies
- Freddy Galvis: 2-4, .265 AVG
- Cody Asche 1-4, .247 AVG
- Alec Asher: 2-2, 1 2B, .333 AVG
Marlins
- Christian Yelich: 1-4, .288 AVG
- J.T. Realmuto: 1-3, 1 3B, 1 RBI, .255 AVG
- Derek Dietrich: 1-3, 1 R, .263 AVG
What's Next:
- Friday, September 25, 2015: vs. Washington Nationals, 7:05 pm
- RHP Jerad Eickhoff (1-3, 3.16 ERA) vs. Jordan Zimmermann (13-8, 3.49 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
Rebecca Serad (@rserad26) is a contributor of Philliedelphia.com.
