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Baby Steps
PHILADELPHIA -- Baby steps is how Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez recently assessed Andrew Miller's progression of late.
What transpired for Miller and the Marlins on Wednesday night was a misstep.
The Phillies pounced on Miller for seven runs, including a three-run homer from Ryan Howard, as they cruised to a 10-6 victory before a sellout crowd of 44,221 at Citizens Bank Park.
Miller, who was coming off a solid five-inning victory over the Braves on Friday, was unable to string together back-to-back solid starts. While the Marlins showed determination with an admirable late rally, they dropped their third straight after claiming the first game of the series.
In four innings, Miller allowed 11 hits while walking three and striking out five. The Phillies scored in each of the four innings the left-hander threw.
"That's one thing I've been following him his whole career," Rodriguez said. "He has to be more consistent. He has to be able to repeat his delivery. That's what we're talking about. He's here and he knows what he needs to work on. Hopefully we can get him straight by his next start."
The Phillies slapped out 18 hits, the most allowed by the Marlins this season. Twice before they've yielded 17.
"It was just hit after hit," said Miller, who is now 1-1. "Eleven hits after four innings, it just seemed like, 'Throw the ball down the middle or whatever.' They were getting good swings on it. I wasn't fooling them by any means."
What had been a completely lopsided affair suddenly became interesting when the Marlins scored six runs in the eighth inning, sending 10 to the plate.
All the runs were charged to former Marlins lefty Nate Robertson.
Gaby Sanchez delivered a three-run homer, while Cameron Maybin added a two-run double. Scott Cousins added a pinch-hit RBI double off David Herndon.
"Those guys, they battled back. They don't make it easy," Rodriguez said. "They play the game the only way you can play the game. They play the game right. You play all out for nine innings and three hours, and then you take the rest of the day off. That's the way they've been doing it."
Sanchez delivered his 17th homer and increased his RBI total to 76 as he improved his National League Rookie of the Year credentials.
In the ninth inning, Logan Morrison drew a one-out walk, and the Phillies were able to secure the victory by calling upon Ryan Madson, who is closing in the meantime for the Phillies while Brad Lidge is out with an injury.
"It just shows character of this team," Sanchez said. "No matter how late or how far down we are in the ballgame, we're still going to fight and try to come back from it.
"We showed it today being down 10-0. It would have been really easy to just say, 'We lost.' But I don't think anybody on this team has that mentality. We're going to just keep fighting and trying to put runs up on the board and see what happens."
Howard drove in six runs on the night and connected on his 28th home run. It was the slugger's second homer in as many nights.
An otherwise competitive series finished up on a low note for Florida, which suffered a big blow to its hopes of making a historic playoff push.
After winning the first game of a doubleheader on Monday, the Marlins lost three straight to fall 10 games back of Philadelphia in the NL East. They also are 9 1/2 behind the Braves in the NL Wild Card standings with 23 games to play.
Given ample run support, Phillies lefty Cole Hamels was in complete control, tossing seven scoreless innings.
Hamels (10-10) now has a string of 25 consecutive scoreless innings, and he beat the Marlins for the first time in four years.
The lefty's stretch of scoreless frames is the longest by a Phillies starter since Randy Wolf went 27 innings in 2002.
"He didn't have his best fastball, but the same time, he located balls good," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "I felt like he really kept balls tight on right-handers inside, and when he did go away, he took the sting out of the bat. He did a good job of pitching."
Florida had limited opportunities off Hamels, who was able to repeatedly make the necessary pitches to escape trouble.
In the second inning, trailing by two, Wes Helms and Maybin strung together successive singles, but the inning ended on a Brad Davis groundout.
Morrison extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double in the third inning. And in the seventh inning, Mike Stanton led off with a double.
Miller's struggles started pretty much from the first batter. Shane Victorino doubled to open the first, and with one out, Chase Utley walked. Howard opened the scoring with a two-run single.
In the second inning, it became a three-run game on Raul Ibanez's double and Victorino's RBI groundout. Carlos Ruiz added a run-scoring single in the third inning, scoring Jimmy Rollins from second.
After Rollins scored, the shortstop exited with a tight right hamstring.
Howard's three-run homer in the fourth broke the game open before the Marlins' big eighth inning.
"I saw his reaction. [The pitch] caught just too much of the plate," Miller said. "In this ballpark, when they hit the ball on the barrel, it's gone."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
What transpired for Miller and the Marlins on Wednesday night was a misstep.
The Phillies pounced on Miller for seven runs, including a three-run homer from Ryan Howard, as they cruised to a 10-6 victory before a sellout crowd of 44,221 at Citizens Bank Park.
Miller, who was coming off a solid five-inning victory over the Braves on Friday, was unable to string together back-to-back solid starts. While the Marlins showed determination with an admirable late rally, they dropped their third straight after claiming the first game of the series.
In four innings, Miller allowed 11 hits while walking three and striking out five. The Phillies scored in each of the four innings the left-hander threw.
"That's one thing I've been following him his whole career," Rodriguez said. "He has to be more consistent. He has to be able to repeat his delivery. That's what we're talking about. He's here and he knows what he needs to work on. Hopefully we can get him straight by his next start."
The Phillies slapped out 18 hits, the most allowed by the Marlins this season. Twice before they've yielded 17.
"It was just hit after hit," said Miller, who is now 1-1. "Eleven hits after four innings, it just seemed like, 'Throw the ball down the middle or whatever.' They were getting good swings on it. I wasn't fooling them by any means."
What had been a completely lopsided affair suddenly became interesting when the Marlins scored six runs in the eighth inning, sending 10 to the plate.
All the runs were charged to former Marlins lefty Nate Robertson.
Gaby Sanchez delivered a three-run homer, while Cameron Maybin added a two-run double. Scott Cousins added a pinch-hit RBI double off David Herndon.
"Those guys, they battled back. They don't make it easy," Rodriguez said. "They play the game the only way you can play the game. They play the game right. You play all out for nine innings and three hours, and then you take the rest of the day off. That's the way they've been doing it."
Sanchez delivered his 17th homer and increased his RBI total to 76 as he improved his National League Rookie of the Year credentials.
In the ninth inning, Logan Morrison drew a one-out walk, and the Phillies were able to secure the victory by calling upon Ryan Madson, who is closing in the meantime for the Phillies while Brad Lidge is out with an injury.
"It just shows character of this team," Sanchez said. "No matter how late or how far down we are in the ballgame, we're still going to fight and try to come back from it.
"We showed it today being down 10-0. It would have been really easy to just say, 'We lost.' But I don't think anybody on this team has that mentality. We're going to just keep fighting and trying to put runs up on the board and see what happens."
Howard drove in six runs on the night and connected on his 28th home run. It was the slugger's second homer in as many nights.
An otherwise competitive series finished up on a low note for Florida, which suffered a big blow to its hopes of making a historic playoff push.
After winning the first game of a doubleheader on Monday, the Marlins lost three straight to fall 10 games back of Philadelphia in the NL East. They also are 9 1/2 behind the Braves in the NL Wild Card standings with 23 games to play.
Given ample run support, Phillies lefty Cole Hamels was in complete control, tossing seven scoreless innings.
Hamels (10-10) now has a string of 25 consecutive scoreless innings, and he beat the Marlins for the first time in four years.
The lefty's stretch of scoreless frames is the longest by a Phillies starter since Randy Wolf went 27 innings in 2002.
"He didn't have his best fastball, but the same time, he located balls good," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "I felt like he really kept balls tight on right-handers inside, and when he did go away, he took the sting out of the bat. He did a good job of pitching."
Florida had limited opportunities off Hamels, who was able to repeatedly make the necessary pitches to escape trouble.
In the second inning, trailing by two, Wes Helms and Maybin strung together successive singles, but the inning ended on a Brad Davis groundout.
Morrison extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double in the third inning. And in the seventh inning, Mike Stanton led off with a double.
Miller's struggles started pretty much from the first batter. Shane Victorino doubled to open the first, and with one out, Chase Utley walked. Howard opened the scoring with a two-run single.
In the second inning, it became a three-run game on Raul Ibanez's double and Victorino's RBI groundout. Carlos Ruiz added a run-scoring single in the third inning, scoring Jimmy Rollins from second.
After Rollins scored, the shortstop exited with a tight right hamstring.
Howard's three-run homer in the fourth broke the game open before the Marlins' big eighth inning.
"I saw his reaction. [The pitch] caught just too much of the plate," Miller said. "In this ballpark, when they hit the ball on the barrel, it's gone."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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