MIAMI — It was crushing night for the Phillies, who experienced intense physical pain at the batter’s box and on the basepaths as well as the mental anguish suffered by staff ace Aaron Nola, who was rocked by the Miami Marlins for the third time this year.
The Phillies lost 10-9, but the score alone falls way short of chronicling how much this one hurt.
• Centerfielder Pedro Florimon's second-inning injury was indicative of how the night would unfold for the Phillies.
He beat out an infield hit to the hole at shortstop, extending his hitting streak to seven games and improving his batting average to .348. But he got hurt as he stepped on the bag and was carted off the field in excruciating pain.
• The Phillies, with two starter-caliber outfielders already on the disabled list in Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr, got more bad news in the seventh when leftfielder/first baseman Rhys Hoskins got hit with a 97-mph fastball by Marlins reliever Brian Ellington.
Hoskins, who was struck on the right hand, stayed in the game to run but was taken out midway through the bottom of the inning on a double switch.
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He finished the night 3 for 3, falling a triple short of the cycle. His homer was his 12th of the season, ending a five-game drought.
• In three starts against the Marlins this year, Nola is 0-3 with a 10.85 ERA. Overall this season, Nola has been strong, entering Saturday night’s start with a 10-9 record and a 3.46 ERA.
Nola allowed a pair of homers Saturday, to Giancarlo Stanton, who leads the majors with 52 long balls, and to Marcell Ozuna, who has 32 and drove in four runs on the night.
• The pitches Nola threw that resulted in the homers did not appear to be awful. Instead, credit is due to Stanton and Ozuna.
The 1-1 pitch to Stanton, a 92-mph fastball, was possibly a strike but very low in the zone. The 1-1 pitch to Ozuna, a 91-mph fastball, was inside and tight. But Ozuna somehow got his hands out and pulled the ball.
• Entering the game, Stanton was 3 for 6 with a double and a homer in his career against Nola. That first homer was recent – Aug. 22 in Philadelphia.
Ozuna was 4 for 13 with one homer against Nola entering Saturday. Ozuna went 4 for 5 with four RBIs on Saturday, although not all that damage was against Nola.
• Credit Hoskins on his homer as well. The pitch from Dan Straily was an 84-mph breaking ball that caught too much of the plate. Still, for young hitters especially, hitting a big-league breaking ball is often the hardest thing to do.
• Nick Williams, who tripled twice at Marlins Park on July 19, hit another three-bagger Saturday. This one was a three-run triple in the eighth, closing the Phillies’ deficit to 10-8. The Phillies got to within 10-9 on a Daniel Nava RBI single.
• Of Williams’ four triples this year, three have been hit at Marlins Park. In addition, he has 33 RBIs this season, placing him among the top three NL rookies in that category.
This was Williams’ first three-RBI game since July 24 against the Houston Astros.
• Rookie Drew Steckenrider of Miami got his first career save with a scoreless ninth, striking out the final two batters … a fitting end on a painful Phillies night.