The Miami Marlins opened a three-game series hosting the best team in Major League Baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies left no room for doubt about their top position, showcasing their prowess and possibly boasting the best pitcher in baseball at present.
Ranger Suárez pitched seven scoreless innings, Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas hit solo homers, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 8-2 Friday night.
“I just try to focus as I always do,” Suárez said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a good team or bad team. We’re in the big leagues. All teams are dangerous.”
Suárez (7-0), whose 1.50 ERA is the second-lowest in MLB, allowed just three hits while striking out nine and walking two.
Suárez has allowed just nine runs through 54 innings this season, including a career-high 32-inning scoreless streak in April that tied for the fifth-longest in franchise history. He’s the first MLB pitcher to reach seven wins this season.
The game was played in front of a crowd of 15,119, the majority appearing to cheer for Philadelphia in Miami’s first home game since trading two-time batting champion Luis Arraez to the Padres on May 4.
Trevor Rogers started on the mound for the Marlins, and his struggling season continued, moving him to 0-6.
“We’re a good group of guys in there,” Rogers said. “We’re all just (upset) at how things have gone. When we hit, we can’t pitch. When we pitch, we can’t hit. Me going out there and laying an egg doesn’t help any. What (upsets) me the most is I can’t give my team a chance.”
Rodgers gave up nine hits, five runs — four earned — walked two and struck out three.
Bryan De La Cruz doubled off Suárez in the first, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Christian Bethancourt added Miami’s other hits against Suárez. Chisholm moved to 300 career hits with his double in the seventh.
The Marlins dropped to 1-6 since the Arraez trade.
Before the game, a handful of longtime Marlins fans gathered outside loanDepot Park to protest the state of the franchise.
Photo/JohnClark/X