Bryan De La Cruz went 4-for-4 with a homer, a double and two RBIs, leading the host Miami Marlins to a 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon.
The surprising Marlins, who closed the first half of the season in wild-card position at 53-39, also got home runs from Jesus Sanchez and rookie Dane Myers. For Myers, it was his first major league dinger.
All three home runs were hit off Phillies starter Aaron Nola (8-6), who took the loss. Nola allowed eight hits, no walks, five runs, four earned, in six innings as the Phillies lost a road game for just the second time in their past 15 outings.
Jesus Luzardo (8-5), who leads Miami in wins, pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, one walk and two runs. He struck out nine and lowered his ERA to 3.29, best among Marlins starters.
The Phillies played without star DH Bryce Harper, who rested after getting a hit-by-pitch on his surgically repaired elbow on Saturday.
Miami opened the scoring in the first as De La Cruz doubled with two outs and Sanchez followed with a massive 461-foot homer to center.
Myers gave the Marlins a 3-0 lead in the third with a different type of homer as his opposite-field, lead-off poke traveled just 352 feet.
Two outs later, De La Cruz hit a 404-foot homer to center, giving the Marlins a 4-0 lead.
The Marlins added one more run in the third as Sanchez reached on a fielding error by first baseman Alec Bohm, advanced to second on a Garrett Cooper hit to center and scored on Jean Segura’s single to left.
Philadelphia cut its deficit to 5-2 in the fifth as Bryson Stott singled and scored on Edmundo Sosa’s 414-foot homer to left-center.
Miami extended its lead to 6-2 in the seventh as Myers got a hit, advanced on a groundout and scored on De La Cruz’s single to left.
In the eighth, Segura singled and tried to score from first on Joey Wendle’s double. But Segura was thrown out on a close play at the plate. However, Nick Fortes followed with a single to drive in Wendle for a 7-2 lead.
Philadelphia closed the scoring in the ninth as Bohm walked and came around to score on a Stott groundout.
–Field Level Media