Wild Card-holding Marlins overwhelm Phillies

MIAMI -- Giancarlo Stanton sparked a big day for the Marlins with a spectacular catch and his 22nd home run as Adam Conley continued his dominance at home in the Marlins' 11-1 win over the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon at Marlins Park.
Stanton robbed Tommy Joseph to end the top of the first with a leaping grab at the wall in right field, then capped a three-run bottom of the first with a homer to left-center. The Marlins cruised from there, collecting 16 hits, including three from Don Kelly, who had two triples and two RBIs.
"It was awesome," Kelly said of his first three-hit game since August 2014. "This game is tough when you're struggling a little bit at the plate and you're up there grinding it out. You feel that potentially it's going to bust open for you."
The Marlins, who lead the National League with 954 hits, put their leadoff hitter on base in every inning and had four players collect three hits each.

Conley worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering eight hits. He struck out six, walked three, and helped his cause with two RBIs. The lefty escaped bases-loaded, one-out jams in both the third and sixth innings while improving to 3-0 in his last five starts at home with a 1.41 ERA (32 IP, 5 ER) over that span.

"There was great defense behind me and I was able to execute pitches," Conley said. "Even though we found ourselves in some jams, we were able to pitch out of those."
• Conley gets early-starting Marlins up and Adam
Phils starter Zach Eflin pitched into the sixth inning and was touched up for seven runs on nine hits as the Phillies are 4-9 since the All-Star break. They entered the break hoping to make a run at .500, but they would have to play 35-24 (.593) the rest of the way to accomplish that.
"It's disappointing because we haven't gotten there yet," Joseph said about hitting the .500 mark, "but we've got just over two months to play. That's easily an attainable goal for this team."
• Marlins unveil 2017 All-Star Game logo
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
A case for Kelly: With Dee Strange-Gordon returning from suspension on Thursday, the Marlins must make room on the roster. Kelly made a case to remain in the Majors by going 3-for-5 with two triples and a single. He drove in two runs and scored two more.

"I don't remember having two triples in a game," Kelly said. "Maybe in college but that was a long time ago."

Marlins stop Eflin's roll: Eflin had a 2.08 ERA in his last seven starts, which included a shutout Friday against the Pirates and a complete game earlier this month against the Braves. But the Marlins jumped on Eflin early. His ERA jumped from 3.40 to 4.23.
"You can't go out there and dominate every outing," Eflin said. "I just think it's a mindset thing. I always have a positive mindset, not really ever negative. I think it's a big thing as a starting pitcher, especially when you have four days off between starts. I'm going to work my tail off the next four days and really focus on the next outing." More >

First-inning fireworks: After robbing Joseph with a leaping catch at the right-field fence to end the top of the first inning, Stanton blasted a two-run homer in the bottom half. Stanton drove a 1-0 pitch over the left-center-field fence just under the 427-foot sign, for his 22nd homer of the season, scoring Christian Yelich to cap a three-run inning.
"That really gets us out and gets us going," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.

Nine times? Nine times: The top three hitters in the Phillies' lineup (César Hernández, Odúbel Herrera and Maikel Franco) combined to reach base nine times, but they never scored. Hernandez's two-out double in the ninth prevented the Phillies from suffering back-to-back shutout losses for the first time since July 8-9, 2015, when Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw pitched in shutouts at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
"What do you think?" manager Pete Mackanin said, when asked if the Phillies' lineup needs a shakeup.
QUOTABLE
"You have to stay even-keeled. You have to stay consistent. At least I have to. I have to try to stay consistent, emotionally." -- Mackanin, on the Phillies' recent struggles
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The win clinched the Marlins' fourth consecutive winning month for the first time in franchise history.
ICHIRO SITS
Three hits shy of reaching 3,000 career Major League hits, Ichiro Suzuki did not play on Wednesday.
"It's a little uncomfortable as you get this close with [Ichiro] because you don't want to just put him in there to try to do this," Mattingly said. "We've been playing with him in the context of the team the whole year long; it's worked out perfectly. I know people want to see it and see it at home but I don't want to force it. [He'll play] when it's best for the team."

BOWA EJECTED
Home-plate umpire Pat Hoberg ejected Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa in the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes after Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp was called out on strikes. It was Bowa's first ejection of the season.
"He was mad at the umpire," Mackanin said. "He couldn't control himself. He had to let it out."

WHAT'S NEXT
Phillies: The Phillies open a four-game series Thursday against the Braves at Turner Field at 7:10 p.m. ET. Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola hopes to turnaround his recent struggles. He went 5-4 with a 2.65 ERA in his first 12 starts this season, looking like a potential National League All-Star, but is 0-5 with a 10.61 ERA in his last seven starts.
Marlins: José Fernández (12-4, 2.54 ERA) gets the nod for the Marlins in the series opener with the Cardinals at Marlins Park at 7:10 p.m. ET. It will be his first start of the season against the Cards. Fernandez is 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA in his last three starts, including 29 strikeouts over 20 1/3 innings.
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