The Phillies' coldest hitter was the one most responsible for their 4-2 win Wednesday night in Miami and the player benched the day before made the defensive play of the game to end it.
Bryson Stott, hitting .183 with a .246 on-base percentage and one home run since May 9, produced one of his best swings of the year in the fourth inning against Marlins right-hander Adam Mazur, hitting a game-changing three-run homer.
It probably caught Miami by surprise. Stott swings at the first pitch less than any hitter in the National League (12%) but attacked Mazur's first offering, a 94 mph fastball up in the zone and over the plate, clobbering it to right-center field to turn a one-run lead into a four-run lead.
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SIGN UP HERE It was more than enough support for Ranger Suarez, who tossed seven more ho-hum innings of one-run ball in his eighth consecutive gem.
Still, the Phillies had to hold on at the end as Matt Strahm put three men on base in the ninth inning and had the winning run at the plate. Nick Fortes hit a flyball to deep right field that Nick Castellanos raced backward to catch, leaping up against the wall to end the game.
Castellanos returned to the lineup after a one-game benching for making an inappropriate comment after being pulled for a defensive replacement late in Monday's win. He made a mistake on the bases but had a multi-hit game and prevented the tying run from scoring with his catch against the wall at loanDepot Park. Castellanos immediately untucked his jersey in celebration.
Alec Bohm had two singles and a double in five at-bats. He's all the way up to .291 and is hitting .337 with an .870 OPS over the last two calendar months.
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Suarez set the tone again. The lefty is 6-1 in his last eight starts with a 1.17 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. All eight have been at least six innings and six have been longer. This has been every bit as good as Suarez was in the first half last season when he looked like a Cy Young candidate before being derailed by a back injury.
The Phillies are 44-30 with one more game in Miami on Thursday night before three huge ones at home this weekend against the Mets, who they trail by a game in the NL East.
It was only one swing from Stott but it was a good sign that he's healthy after irritating a nerve in his right elbow in his final at-bat Monday night. Stott tried to walk off and shake off the pain that night and stayed in the game after being visited by a trainer, surprisingly playing the next day even though manager Rob Thomson told reporters he'd consider giving the second baseman a rest.
The month of June had been especially rough, with Stott going 7-for-52 (.135) with one extra-base hit, a double. He's been seeing plenty of pitches, fouling plenty of pitches off and running deep counts but not ending them with any consistency or authority.
In his first at-bat Wednesday night, the first pitch Stott saw was a 94 mph fastball right down the middle. He took it for a called strike and ended up whiffing.
The league-average rate of swinging at the first pitch is once every three plate appearances. Stott does so about once every nine plate appearances. He may have told himself walking back to the dugout, If I get another first-pitch cookie, I'm not passing it up. He did, and he unloaded. He also later walked, singled and stole a base.
The Phillies scored in only one inning, the fourth, but it sure helps when they have Suarez piling up zeroes while the offense finds its footing.
The only run Suarez let across was a fifth-inning homer by Connor Norby. He matched a season-high with eight strikeouts.
It's Cristopher Sanchez' turn in the finale Thursday night. He's faced the Marlins only once since 2023 and it was his only career shutout last June.