Just six days after making his first start of the season for the Phillies, Zack Miner would take the hill against the same team he saw last Wednesday, the Miami Marlins. He labored in that start, lasting just three innings and forcing manager Ryne Sandberg to blow through his bullpen. Henderson Alvarez would also get the nod in this game, coming in with a 4-5 record on the season in his first season with the Fish. Neither pitcher had been particullarly efficient for their squads this season, so it was no surprise the predictions headed into the game were of the high-scoring variety. Both men, however, were able to overcome the low expectations.
In the first two frames, it seemed the starting pitchers were performing as expected. In the first inning, the Phillies got off to the quick start. Despite Cesar Hernandez grounding out to start things off, Philly was able to load the bases with a Jimmy Rollins double and walks by Chase Utley and Domonic Brown. Darin Ruf stepped in next, and though he's not well-known for his patience at the plate, the second-year player worked the third straight walk of the inning to bring in the game's first run. Kevin Frandsen was next in the batting order, and a ground out to Hechavaria at shortstop brought in Utley to make the lead 2-0.
The bottom of the second inning saw the Marlins score for the first time in the game. Giancarlo was able to single with a broken bat up the middle. Next up was Justin Ruggiano, who has been a Philly-killer this season. He was thrown out when he tried stretching a left field double into a triple, but the effort brought in Stanton to move the score to 2-1.
And, well, that would be it. Miner would go four innings while surrendering just the one run, and he gave way to Mike Stutes in the fifth. Stutes was making his first appearance of the season, and it was an impressive one. A 1-2-3 inning was it for Stutes, and the rest of the pen worked just as well. Jake Diekman and Johnathan Papelbon closed the game out for the Phillies, and the 2-1 victory was the first in over a week. With the 5-game losing streak snapped, they will go into tomorrow's game hoping to win the series in Miami before they go to Atlanta for the final series of the season. Cole Hamels will be taking on Brad Hand a 7:10.
