MIAMI — It might have been the red uniforms, it might have been the fact that they were facing a lefty, or it might have been something else entirely. But regardless of the reasons why, Saturday was the day that the Phillies lineup began to look the way it first did on April 8, when expectations for this offense were as high as could be. The Phillies put up eight runs in their first two innings alone, though not by bashing home runs. They took their walks — four of them in the first two innings — and drove those runners in with extra-base hits.
The Phillies’ 10-3 win over the Marlins on Saturday marked the end of a four-game losing streak. Over that four-game span, the Phillies only scored 10 runs and went 7 for 38 with runners in scoring position. On Saturday, they went 7 for 12 with runners on, knocked in 11 hits, and drew five walks. The Marlins threw 199 pitches on Saturday; the Phillies threw 128. Needless to say, they hope Saturday also marked the end of their recent cold spell.
“It’s just guys grinding,” said Phillies manager Joe Girardi. “There are days when you aren’t going to look very good offensively, no matter who you have in the lineup. There are just those days. But eventually these guys are going to get going, and when they do, you’re going to have outbursts like today. They’re too good not to get going.”
Bohm continues to impress at the plate
Saturday marked Alec Bohm’s first appearance back in the starting lineup since April 11, the game against the Mets when he committed three errors. Girardi put him at DH on Saturday, but wouldn’t specify when Bohm would return to third base, beyond saying that Bohm will be there “soon.”
“Alec is going to play,” Girardi said before Saturday’s game. “We’re going to run him back out there. You can count on it. It’s been a good bat off the bench for us, obviously we don’t have that today. But there’s sometimes where you have a night where we had, you take a step back before you go forward. He’s done the work he needs to do, we’re pleased with that and the way he’s handled everything. I think there’s a lot of growth with him, but you’re going to see him back out there.”
Whatever Bohm is going through defensively is not translating to his performance at the plate. He went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs on Saturday, which means he’s now hitting .700/.625/.900 to start the season.
“I’m really just not trying to do too much,” Bohm said after the game. “But I think really I’m just trying to stay out of my own way, and let the game come to me.”
Ranger Suárez goes deeper in his second start of season
This was a solid outing for Suárez, who was pulled from his first start on April 11 in the second inning, after allowing three earned runs and one walk. Over five innings pitched on Saturday against the Marlins, he allowed six hits (one home runs), two earned runs, three walks and four strikeouts. He threw 78 pitches and 49 strikes. Suárez didn’t run into much trouble until the fifth inning, when he allowed a two-run home run to Jorge Soler on a change-up that traveled right down the middle of the plate.
After a delayed start to a shortened spring training, Suárez is still in the process of ramping up, so the fact that he was able to reach five innings and nearly 80 pitches is promising. Suárez said after the game that reaching at least five innings was his goal for tonight, but that he’s still trying to make his pitches a bit sharper.
“Honestly, my goal, before any game, is to go nine innings,” he said in Spanish. “I always have that mentality. We’re a team of starters who go deep.”
Seranthony Domínguez with another dominant performance
Domínguez, who came in for Suárez in the sixth inning, allowed no hits, no earned runs, no walks and struck out two in an inning of work against the Marlins. It was just the latest in a string of dominant outings for the right-handed reliever, who has allowed one earned run and three hits over 4 2/3 innings pitched this season. He has also been lighting up the radar gun of late; on Saturday, he recorded some of the top pitch velocities of the night, hitting 97 mph multiple times.
“Tonight I think is the best he’s looked,” Girardi said. “He had that zip again, like he had in spring training. His first two outings, it was OK, but it wasn’t as sharp as what we saw in spring training. But it was back tonight.”
