Phillies take on Marlins looking to strengthen wild-card hold

The Philadelphia Phillies will look for a crucial series victory when they host the Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon.

The Phillies dropped the opener 3-2 on Friday but rebounded for an 8-4 victory on Saturday.

Philadelphia (78-63) will aim to strengthen its National League wild-card position with another win over a team also fighting to get into the playoffs.

Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run home run and Brandon Marsh ripped a key three-run double along with a single in the four-run victory.

Marsh’s bases-clearing double in the fifth inning proved to be a clutch hit.

“I got a slider up and I took my chance on it,” Marsh said during a postgame interview on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“Just being able to control his at-bats day in and day out has been great,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson added. “He’s not chasing.”

The Phillies let a 2-0 lead slip away on Friday, but they proved to be resilient once again.

This has been the case all season.

“Especially at home, we feel like we’re never out of a fight,” Marsh said. “It was a good bounce back.”

The same goes for the bullpen.

Jeff Hoffman, Jose Alvarado, Gregory Soto and Craig Kimbrel combined to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings Saturday. The four relievers allowed a total of three hits to go along with six strikeouts and no walks.

The Phillies will hand the ball to Ranger Suarez (2-6, 3.91 ERA).

In Suarez’s last start against the Milwaukee Brewers, he allowed five hits and two runs in four innings.

Suarez is 4-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 17 career games with six starts against the Marlins.

Bryson Stott was hit by a pitch in the rib area but stayed in the game Saturday. Thomson said Stott was being examined and no immediate update was available.

The Marlins (73-69) will look to rebound and earn a series win.

Miami ended Saturday 1 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third NL wild-card berth.

Garrett Hampson homered and singled twice and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added two hits. Jacob Stallings and Josh Bell each had an RBI double.

The Marlins fell behind 5-0, quickly closed within 5-4 but couldn’t get any closer.

Steven Okert (3-1, 3.44 ERA) is expected to start for the Marlins in what will be deemed a bullpen game.

Okert has tossed 52 1/3 innings in 56 games this season.

In Okert’s career against the Phillies, he’s 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 20 games.

Expect the Marlins to use a number of relievers in this finale.

“Honestly, down in the bullpen, everybody’s excited to go in,” left-hander Andrew Nardi said after Friday’s win. “Everybody wants to pitch. Everybody knows what they can do and what their job is basically. So when it’s their time to shine, they’re going to do it.”

Venezuelan left-hander Enmanuel De Jesus made his major league in the defeat. Johnny Cueto lasted only 3 2/3 innings, and the Marlins turned to De Jesus, who threw the final 4 1/3 innings to preserve the bullpen.

De Jesus, 26, allowed three runs on two hits and two walks, striking out three and hitting a batter. He threw 78 pitches, 46 for strikes. The three strikeouts are the most by a Marlins reliever in his MLB debut since 2012.

De Jesus, who pitched for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, had a 4.97 ERA in 16 games with 15 starts at Triple-A Jacksonville.

—Field Level Media