Lewis Brinson sliced a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Miami Marlins stunned the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2, on Saturday night.
Brinson’s 350-foot shot to the opposite field bounced off the foul pole in right.
Miguel Rojas finished 3-for-4 with a key RBI in the eighth for Miami.
The Phillies, chasing the Atlanta Braves in the National League East, had won six straight games before arriving in Miami. Now, the Marlins will go for a three-game sweep on Sunday.
Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez, converted from reliever to starter on Aug. 2, pitched five scoreless innings, hit an RBI double and tied his career high with seven strikeouts.
But his excellent performance was wasted by Phillies reliever Archie Bradley (7-3), who allowed three hits and three runs in the eighth. Bradley has allowed eight earned runs in his six most recent innings.
Marlins rookie lefty Trevor Rogers escaped with a no-decision. Pitching for the first time since July 31 due to leave for a family emergency, Rogers allowed six hits, two walks and two runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Anthony Bass (2-7) earned the win, pitching one scoreless inning. In fact, Miami used a total of five relievers and they combined for 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. That includes Dylan Floro, who picked up his eighth save by pitching the ninth.
Andrew McCutchen hit a solo homer for the Phillies, who had scored at least seven runs in seven straight games entering this series. But in two games against the Marlins, the Phillies have totaled just five runs.
Philadelphia opened the scoring in the fourth.
McCutchen hammered a 0-1 fastball for his 23rd homer of the season. With two outs, Didi Gregorius drew a walk. Rogers then intentionally walked Ronald Torreyes to get to Suarez, who spoiled the strategy by slicing an opposite-field RBI double just inside the left-field line.
The Marlins came through in the eighth inning. Bryan De La Cruz’s leadoff double was followed by Rojas’ RBI single off the glove of diving second baseman Jean Segura. After Bradley struck out Jazz Chisholm and Jesus Aguilar, Brinson jumped on a first-pitch fastball for his eighth homer of the season.
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–Field Level Media