Early offense helps Phillies hold off Fish

Final: Phillies 3, Marlins 1

WP: Chad Billingsley (2-3, 5.84)  LP: Tom Koehler (7-5, 3.40) SV: Jonathan Papelbon (15)

Philadelphia, PA- With a second straight win, the Phillies continue their unprecedented second-half charge up the NL East standings, just 20 games back of the division-leading Nationals! Okay, so maybe they're not contending for a spot, but the Phils' use of small ball and capitalizing on early Marlins errors led them to a 3-1 win Saturday evening, a nice reminder that the team may attempt, however futilely, to compete for its home fans instead of blithely giving up.

Tonight's win was certainly aided by the sloppy defense of the Marlins–after RBI singles by Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, no further hits than the three already produced were needed for the Phils. Cody Asche reached on Justin Bour's catching error to lead off the second, then made it to third on a bunt badly dealt with by Marlins starter Tom Koehler, charged with a throwing error. A Ben Revere groundout added an insurance run for the Phillies, who remained ahead 3-0 until the sixth.

Phillies starter Chad Billingsley went just five innings tonight, pitching well in scattering six Marlins hits, throwing just 70 pitches before being replaced in the sixth by Jake Diekman, who allowed a single by Ichiro Suzuki and an RBI double by Martin Prado, his second two-bagger in the game. After Prado was thrown out at third on a fielder's choice and Bour struck out, Jeanmar Gomez took over for the Phils and pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings. 

For the Marlins, Koehler settled down after the first, as the Phillies recorded their first hit since the first frame in the bottom of the seventh, when pinch-hitter Odubel Herrera doubled to right with two out, but was stranded. 

Ken Giles pitched a shaky eighth for the Phils, but managed to hold runners at second and third with a strikeout of Adeiny Hechavarria on a payoff pitch clocked at triple digits. In the Phillies' half of the frame, Maikel Franco singled and reached second on a wild pitch by Marlins reliever Sam Dyson, then was kept there as Ryan Howard flied out and Carlos Ruiz grounded out.

Jonathan Papelbon, having allowed a homer in yesterday's 6-3 win, came on to save the game in the ninth. After allowing a leadoff single to Derek Dietrich, Papelbon caught J. T. Realmuto looking for a strikeout. Cole Gillespie lined out, pinch-hitter Michael Morse grounded out, and the Phillies took the game 3-1, winning their first series since June 22-24 against the Yankees. 

The Phillies go for the sweep of the fourth-place Marlins tomorrow, sending Cole Hamels to the hill against seasoned veteran Dan Haren, formerly of the Nationals at 1:35.

Starting Pitchers

• Koehler: Loss; 89 pitches, 54 strikes; 11 groundouts, 4 flyouts; 24 faced batters
• Billingsley: Win; 70 pitches, 41 strikes; 5 groundouts, 3 flyouts; 18 faced batters

Out of the 'Pen

Marlins

• Steve Cishek (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.97 ERA
• Sam Dyson (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.51 ERA

Phillies

• Jake Diekman (6th): 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 5.24 ERA
• Jeanmar Gomez (6th) : 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 2.44 ERA
• Ken Giles (8th) : 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 1.77 ERA
• Jonathan Papelbon (9th) : 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 1.77 ERA

At the Plate:

Marlins

• Martin Prado: 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, .275 AVG
• Ichiro Suzuki: 1-4, R, .257 AVG
• Cole Gillespie: 1-3, BB, .341 AVG 

Phillies

• Ben Revere: 1-4, R, RBI, .297 AVG
• Ryan Howard: 1-4, RBI, .226 AVG
• Domonic Brown: 1-3, RBI, .200 AVG

What's Next

• Sunday, July 19, 2015: vs. Miami Marlins, 1:35 pm 
• RHP Dan Haren (7-5, 3.24 ERA) vs. LHP Cole Hamels (5-7, 3.63 ERA)
• TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)

Theo DeRosa (@Derosatheo11) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.