Philadelphia Phillies defeat Florida Marlins 3-1 to bag 50th win at home – MLB Update
The Philadelphia Phillies hurried their way to a 3-1 win over the Florida Marlins on Thursday, September 15 to record their 50th win of the season at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Phillies started impressively, scoring two runs in the first inning to impose pressure on the deprived Marlins. Kyle Kendrick was central to Philadelphia’s success in the game as he restricted the Marlins to just a solitary run in his spell of five innings.
Kendrick exhibited the depth in Philadelphia’s bull-pen as he threw a mesmerising spell to register his eighth win of the season with just six losses to his credit so far. Florida could only produce two hits from Kendrick’s spell, one of which was a home-run.
Kendrick is unlikely to make a trip to the playoffs and when asked about this proposition, he said, "Whatever they need me to do. Obviously with the stars we have here, hopefully they go deep in the playoffs."
However, the starter has proved his ability in crunch situations and can play a role deep in the game. Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel did not rule out the possibility of Kendrick being included in the rotation and said, “I could consider him”.
Placido Polanco scored the first run for the Phillies on Hunter Pence’s double to left-field in the first inning before Pence doubled the lead in the same inning on Raul Ibanez’s double to the opposite flank. Anibal Sanchez came back strongly after being
unglued in the first inning to pitch five scoreless innings for the Marlins thereafter.
Sanchez threw a total of 88 pitches over six innings and generated 56 strikes to improve his earned-run average down to 3.62 for the season. He struck-out seven batters in his spell but was unlucky in the end to lose his eighth start of the season after
an offensive failure.
Marlins reduced the deficit when Logan Morrison unleashed a 410-feet home-run down right-field but the relief pitchers did well to pitch four scoreless innings after the home-run effort.
Brian Schneider then scored a run in the seventh inning to give the Phillies a comfortable two-run margin over Florida and take a 1-0 lead in the two-game series.
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