Phillips settles in, but early trouble pushes Marlins' skid to 8 straight

HOUSTON -- The Marlins' skid reached eight games on Tuesday night, but manager Clayton McCullough said it best -- the effort is there.

Starter Tyler Phillips pitched into the fifth inning, Joe Mack homered for a second straight game and the Marlins even turned the first triple play in the Majors this season and the second in club history, but it wasn’t enough in a 5-3 loss to the Astros at Daikin Park.

“It’s not an effort thing,” McCullough said. “It’s not our guys’ preparation. We’re putting ourselves in some spots to win games. We’re also doing things within these games that are making it tougher on ourselves. … It will turn.”

Phillips surrendered three runs (two earned) on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two.

Phillips said he was able to settle in after the second inning.

“To me, I settled in nicely,” he said. “I made pitches when I felt like I needed to. I like going deep into games. Don’t get me wrong, I will 110% respect the manager’s decision every single time. I understand where the game stands. To me, it’s a failure if I don’t get at least five or six. Even five feels weak.”

The right-hander mixed his pitches well, throwing 25 sinkers, 18 splitters, 14 sweepers and 10 curveballs. He had his most success with the curve, getting four whiffs on six swings and one strikeout with the pitch. He got three whiffs on the sinker and two on the splitter.

Phillips was able to get mostly soft contact, as the Astros had four hard-hit balls and an average exit velocity of 87.7 mph.

“Obviously, we’re just going through a rough stint here,” Phillips said. “I think the ability to lock back in after the first two innings -- I was pretty amped up, I was pretty excited to throw. It’s been nine days for me.

“I took a step into the tunnel tonight after that second inning. I was pretty frustrated, but I cooled off. I tried to just talk my way through it with [pitching coach Daniel] Moskos. I settled back in nicely. I feel I was able to get weak contact and quick outs.”

Phillips yielded two runs in one inning against the Guardians in his last start on July 12, which he made on three days' rest. In his last start on regular rest against the Mariners on July 8, he threw five scoreless innings, earning his only win in his past seven starts.

Phillips allowed a Jeremy Peña leadoff home run in the first and a Lucas Spence RBI double in the second, but he retired eight of the final 10 batters he faced after that.

“I thought Tyler did well,” McCullough said. “Leadoff homer, and then to get himself out of the pickle there in the second, to leave the guys on base and hold the game where it was, give us a chance to claw back in. I thought Tyler did a nice job.”

The Marlins’ offense continued to show signs of improvement.

Otto Lopez returned to the lineup, going 0-for-3 with two walks and a run scored on Kyle Stowers' RBI double in the fifth. Stowers finished with two hits.

“I think there’s room for improvement,” Stowers said. “I thought yesterday we did a great job battling. Today, Joe hits another homer to get us back in the game. That’s huge to get back into the game, and you’ve got the tying run at the plate in both games. I don’t think we’re far off, but there’s room for improvement for sure.”

Mack hit a Statcast-projected 435-foot two-run homer to right-center in the seventh to cut Houston’s lead to 5-3.

“I’m feeling good,” Mack said. “I’m putting my ‘A’ swing on balls and good things are happening.”

The Marlins turned the triple play in the eighth inning, with Jose Altuve grounding to Leo Jiménez, who stepped on third and threw it to Xavier Edwards at second before Edwards finished the play with a throw to Stowers at first.

With the losing streak at eight, the Marlins are trying to stay positive.

“It stinks, but we’re all trying to keep our composure and trying to keep our good spirits up and giving each other energy,” Mack said. “We just try to bounce off each other and continue to keep it up.”