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Philadelphia Phillies Overcome Sandy Alcantara, Increase Winning Streak to Seven

With a series of singles in the eighth inning, the Philadelphia Phillies rallied against Sandy Alcantara to beat the Miami Marlins.

Author:
Leo Morgenstern
Aug 11, 2022 11:00 AM EDT

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Philadelphia Phillies

For most of the evening, Wednesday’s game looked like a loss.

Sandy Alcantara has been, perhaps, the best pitcher in the National League this season, and he was shutting down the Philadelphia Phillies with ease. He allowed just one baserunner through the first five innings.

Meanwhile, Noah Syndergaard was still looking to find his footing in Philadelphia. He came away with a quality start — pitching six innings and allowing just two runs — but opposed to Alcantara, he looked mortal the whole time. Syndergaard gave up six hits and two walks, and if it not for a couple of excellent double plays by the Phillies’ defense, he might have gotten into a lot more trouble.

Going into the bottom of the eighth, the Miami Marlins held a 3-1 lead, and it looked like it was going to stay that way. Andrew Bellatti had just given up an insurance run on back-to-back doubles, and Alcantara was coming out for another frame. Philadelphia had managed only two hits off of him all night, so Miami’s two-run lead seemed all but insurmountable.

And maybe it would have been insurmountable for the Phillies of a few months ago. But this is a different team now. This is a team that has gone 41-19 since the start of June. This is a team that can never be counted out.

Jean Segura opened up the eighth inning with a swinging bunt single. Bryson Stott followed with a single of his own. Brandon Marsh came to the plate, and with two strikes and two runners on, and he laced a base hit to center field, Segura scored.

Kyle Schwarber came up next and smacked his third hit of the night, scoring Stott and tying the game. All of a sudden, things looked promising for Philadelphia. Alcantara was clearly tiring, and the Phillies had two runners on, no outs, and the middle of the lineup coming up.

The very next batter, Rhys Hoskins, stepped to the plate with the chance to give his team the lead. Instead he lined a ball at shortstop Miguel Rojas. Rojas caught the soft liner and three to third, catching Marsh off the base for a double play.

After that, things seemed a little less promising. With two outs, and just a runner on first, it wasn’t going to be quite as easy for Philadelphia to score the winning run. But this is the new Phillies, remember, and they’re never to be counted out.

Alec Bohm came up and singled Schwarber over to third base. Then, J.T. Realmuto, one of the hottest hitters in baseball, smacked a single of his own and gave Philadelphia a 4-3 lead.

Things were electric at Citizen’s Bank Park as Schwarber came around to score the go-ahead run.

Seranthony Domínguez pitched a perfect ninth, and that was it. With six singles in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Phillies defeated the NL Cy Young frontrunner. They secured their seventh straight win and another series victory over the Marlins.

Philadelphia is now 62-48, 14 games above .500. That is the sixth-best record in all of baseball.

The Phillies sit one game above the Padres for the second Wild Card spot. They are only three games behind the Braves. This is a good baseball team, and Philadelphia fans should be getting very excited.

The Phillies take on the Marlins Thursday afternoon at 1:05 p.m., hoping to collect their second straight series sweep. Kyle Gibson faces off against Edward Cabrera.