Marlins knock Wheeler around, but can't come out with a win

PHILADELPHIA — A night after putting 11 men on base against Phillies' left-handed ace Christopher Sánchez, the Marlins chased Philadelphia’s right-handed ace after only five innings.

But for the second straight game, the stress they put on the opposing starter did not result in a win. The Fish fell again, 6-4, to lose an important series at Citizens Bank Park.

Miami entered this three-game set with wins in 12 of the last 19 games, but consecutive losses to the Phillies have put Clayton McCullough's team in a precarious position in the National League Wild Card race. The Marlins are now five games behind the Phillies for the second Wild Card and four back of the Padres for the final spot with 35 games left to play.

They managed two runs Tuesday against two-time NL Cy Young runner-up Zack Wheeler, who walked four, struck out seven and needed 98 pitches to finish five innings. It came 24 hours after the Marlins put multiple men on base in five of six innings against Sánchez. Just like Monday's series opener, though, the big hit was elusive.

"He was tough," McCullough said of Wheeler. "You could tell right away coming out, that upshoot heater he was throwing, he had real life to his fastball. We were able to have some really lengthy at-bats and were at least able to drive up his pitch count. I thought offensively, against a guy that's really good and had good stuff tonight, we did a nice job of bleeding out at-bats and [getting] him out maybe an inning sooner than anticipated."

Miami's first two runs scored on a Griffin Conine solo home run to center field in the top of the second and a Xavier Edwards RBI single with two outs in the fifth. Edwards was nailed by center fielder Justin Crawford at second base trying to stretch his single into a double, and it was costly as Wheeler otherwise would have been just under the 100-pitch mark with two men on base and Otto Lopez at the plate with the Marlins up a run.

"X is running hard out of the box thinking two, sees the throw going in front of him," McCullough said. "I think he just read how it came out of the center fielder's hand and the height there and thought he could get into second base. Trea [Turner] was in the right spot and redirected it and got us."

The Marlins opened up a two-run lead in the top of the sixth when Luis Arraez made an errant throw tying to finish off a 5-4-3 double play, allowing Lopez to score.

The Phillies answered back with four runs in a game-changing bottom of the sixth. Michael Petersen, the fourth Marlins reliever used in a bullpen game, put on five of the first six batters he faced in the inning, and four of them scored. The biggest knock was Bryson Stott's two-run single up the middle to turn a one-run Marlins lead into a one-run deficit.

Petersen had been money for months with a 2.23 ERA in 36 appearances dating back to May 15. Tuesday was his worst outing of the season. There was some tough luck involved, but he didn't do himself any favors by hitting Turner with a pitch to put the leadoff man on base in a tight game.

"Just unlucky. It sucks to come into a situation where you're trying to help out the team and not [execute]," Petersen said. "It sucks being counted on and making bad pitches, and it sucks making good pitches that get hit. There are going to be days like that; it just sucks when it's all at once."

McCullough could have started right-hander Tyler Phillips on regular rest Tuesday but instead opted to use lefty Cade Gibson as an opener. It was the 11th time this season a team has used an opener against the Phillies because of their extreme left-handedness.

Phillips, though, wasn't the next arm up after Gibson. The Marlins used right-handers Tyler Zuber, Josh Ekness and Petersen before turning to Phillips with one out in the sixth.

The pitching changes figure to be less frequent in Wednesday's series finale with Sandy Alcantara on the hill. The Marlins' ace has averaged 6.9 innings per start since July 1, and Miami is 10-4 behind him since June 1. The Phillies counter with Aaron Nola, who has allowed just one run in 11 2/3 innings this season to the Fish.

"What Sandy's been able to do this year, be so good and go deep into games, certainly provides me a lot of optionality with what we do," McCullough said. "But I think we just look at it more like what's our best chance to win today's game, go after it that way and come back the next day and think about what's the best way to go win that one."

Salvaging the series with a win Wednesday carries importance because the Marlins' opportunities to make up direct ground are running out. When they leave Philadelphia, they'll play 22 games before facing a team they have a realistic chance to catch in the Wild Card race again.