Phillies end their Miami Misery, ride sweep of Fish into All-Star break

MIAMI – Journeys to Miami haven’t been a lot enjoyable for the Phillies in latest seasons.

They traveled right here in September 2020, chasing a playoff berth, and misplaced 5 of seven video games on their solution to lacking the postseason for a ninth straight season.

Their playoff hopes took a beating right here once more final season as they misplaced six of 9 video games below the dome in Little Havana and missed the postseason for a ten^th straight yr.

Again in April, within the days of Joe Girardi, the Phils performed their first street sequence of the brand new season in Miami and misplaced three of 4.

Issues are completely different for the Phillies now. 

Girardi was changed by Rob Thomson on June 3 and since then the Phillies have been just about en fuego.

Even Miami isn’t such a nasty place for them anymore.

The Phillies rolled into the All-Star break with a 4-0 street win over the Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon. Aaron Nola pitched brilliantly and Alec Bohm, Matt Vierling and Yairo Munoz had huge hits because the Phils swept the three-game sequence from the Marlins and completed an up-and-down, nine-game street journey on the plus facet with 5 wins and 4 losses.

The sweep was the Phillies’ first in Miami since September 13-15, 2010, again when the opponents had been nonetheless referred to as the “Florida Marlins” and performed their video games north of city within the house of the Miami Dolphins. The Phillies’ beginning pitchers in that way back sequence had been Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay.

On this sequence, the beginning pitchers had been Kyle Gibson, Ranger Suarez and Nola. They had been all excellent. So, too, was the bullpen. Within the sequence, Phillies pitching allowed simply 13 hits and one run over 27 innings. That’ll win you some ballgames.

“Excellent,” Thomson mentioned of the pitching. “Everybody.

“Win the street journey, win one other sequence, sweep these guys who we’ve had issues with prior to now. It’s a confidence builder. It offers us momentum going into the break. Relaxation up and are available again out firing.”

The Phillies head into the All-Star break at 49-43. Although they’re tied within the standings with the St. Louis Cardinals for the third and ultimate NL wild-card spot, they management that place primarily based on successful their season sequence with the Cardinals.

So, in different phrases, the Phillies management their very own future, a minimum of so far as breaking their annoying postseason drought.

“We’ve nonetheless bought 70 video games to go,” Thomson mentioned. “It’s a good distance. Take it one sport, one sequence at a time and preserve preventing.”

“I’m trying ahead to seeing what the second half brings,” All-Star Kyle Schwarber mentioned.

After sputtering the primary two months, the Phils turned their season round by leaping on Schwarber’s again and going 19-8 in June. They’re 9-6 up to now in July. The membership has responded brilliantly to the managerial change and is 27-14 below Thomson. The staff’s run differential for the season is now as much as plus-62, the best it has been heading into the break because the 2011 staff was 89 runs on the plus facet.

“I believe that is how we envisioned it,” Schwarber mentioned. “There might be good months and there might be dangerous months. We had been all type of figuring it out early on. To see the best way everybody has rallied across the group — it’s actually cool to see how this group grew to become such a staff now. Everybody loves one another and that’s what it’s going to take.

“I’m positive within the second half there is likely to be just a little extra adversity. You by no means know. However I do know that we’ll be greater than geared up to face that. I’m not going to place something previous this group.”

Nola had a troublesome outing Monday night time in St. Louis. He gave up 5 runs in seven innings and took the loss. He bounced again in a giant approach Sunday. He allowed simply 4 hits, all singles, walked none and struck out 10 over 8 1/3 innings. Two of the hits he gave up got here with one out within the ninth, prompting Thomson to go to Jose Alvarado for the ultimate two outs.

The bats supported Nola with 4 runs within the fourth inning in opposition to lefty Trevor Rogers. Nick Castellanos, who had a disappointing first half, began it off with a single. Bohm and Vierling had back-to-back RBI doubles and Munoz, who bought the beginning at second base as Bryson Stott was held out in opposition to the lefty, doubled the lead with a two-run homer to left.

That was all of the Phillies wanted. They’re 40-16 once they rating 4 or extra runs. 

The Phils scattered for the All-Star break after the win. 4 days of relaxation and restoration for everybody besides Schwarber, who’s headed to Los Angeles for the House Run Derby on Monday night time and the All-Star Recreation on Tuesday night time. His first-round opponent within the Derby: Future Corridor of Famer Albert Pujols.

“That man’s a legend,” Schwarber mentioned. “It’s type of like just a little childhood dream to go up in opposition to him.”