Cole Hamels is still in search of his first win of the season.
On Wednesday, Hamels allowed one unearned run on his own error and nothing else. The Phillies gave Hamels one run of support. Just your typical Cole Hamels start.
The Marlins took the lead on a balk, of all things, and added three more runs on two Phillies errors in the eighth to claim a 5-1 win over the Phillies on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
From the start, Hamels struggled with a small strike zone. He worked through a clean first inning, but ran into trouble in the second, allowing a hit and a walk.
It appeared Hamels would escape the trouble as a ground ball off the bat of Marlins pitcher Jarred Cosart was hit to Chase Utley. But Utley's throw to Hamels covering first was dropped by Hamels, allowing a run to score.
Cody Asche quickly erased Hamels error by belting a solo home run to lead off the Phillies half of the second, tying the game.
Hamels and Cosart dueled from there, each going six innings and allowing one run.
Hamels allowed five hits and three walks while striking out five. The run allowed was unearned.
Cosart allowed four hits and no walks while striking out four.
Luis Garcia entered for the seventh inning and allowed the go-ahead run on a balk. It snapped a 14-inning scoreless streak for Garcia. The Marlins stranded two runners on base in the seventh.
Ken Giles was on track for a scoreless eighth inning when everything unraveled for the Phillies. Back-to-back singles with two outs put two runners on for pinch-hitter Jeff Baker. Baker hit a ground ball to third, but Asche's throw to second for the force out was dropped by Utley to load the bases.
Dee Gordon followed by hitting a fly ball to center that was dropped by Odubel Herrera, clearing the bases. Gordon scored on an RBI double by Martin Prado to cap the four-run inning.
The Phillies went quietly to close the game.
The win for the Marlins snapped a five-game losing streak. Four Marlins hitters – Prado, Marcell Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto and Adeiny Hechavarria – had mutli-hit games.
Utley snapped an 0-for-21 stretch at the plate with a single in the first, but finished 1-for-4 on the night.
The Phillies close the series with the Marlins on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| PHI | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
L: Luis Garcia (1-1)
Attendance: 23,417
Kevin Durso is a contributor and editorial assistant for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
