Call it Salvage Sunday.
The Phillies avoided a sweep at the hands of the Miami Marlins when they rallied for a run in the top of the 10th inning to win, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon.
The win meant the Phillies would leave Miami no more than two games back in the NL East even though they lost the first two games of the series.
The Phils will be no more than three back in the wild-card race.
Odubel Herrera broke a 3-3 tie with a two-out base hit to right in the top of the 10th. The hit scored Freddy Galvis from second. Galvis had started the inning on second base, per MLB’s extra-inning rule. Miami rightfielder Jesus Sanchez did not field Herrera’s hit cleanly and that eliminated any chance for a play at the plate against Galvis, who is not running 100 percent as he continues to mend from a quad injury.
The Phillies used their bullpen to get through the game. Nine pitchers held the Marlins to just two hits in 10 innings.
Ian Kennedy got the final six outs, four by strikeout.
The victory was just the Phils’ 12th in 31 games in Miami since the start of 2018.
Herrera’s hit was just the Phillies’ sixth of the day.
The Phillies trailed, 1-0, early in the game but took a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning on a solo homer by Bryce Harper and a two-run homer by Freddy Galvis.
The Marlins shaved a run off the lead when Bryan De La Cruz homered against Bailey Falter in the bottom of the inning.
The sixth was a pivotal inning in the ballgame. J.T. Realmuto led it off with a double, bringing Harper to the plate in a prime RBI situation. But instead of trying to drive the ball, Harper, apparently on his own, laid down a sacrifice bunt. It moved Realmuto to third, but he died there as Andrew McCutchen and Didi Gregorius both grounded out.
In the bottom of the inning, the Marlins tied the game with an unearned run against Jose Alvarado. Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached on an error by first baseman Brad Miller to open the frame. Alvarado then walked Lewis Brinson and the tying run scored on a pair of groundouts.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Phillies as they move on to Milwaukee for three with the NL Central-leading Brewers. Monday afternoon’s pitching matchup will pit Zack Wheeler against Brandon Woodruff. Wheeler ranks 12th in the majors with a 3.01 ERA. Woodruff is third at 2.35.
The Phillies swept a four-game series from the Brewers in Philadelphia in early May. The Brewers recovered from that without issue and entered Sunday leading the NL Central by 10 games at 83-54.
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