MIAMI -- Bryson Stott joked on Friday that he finally hit a baseball where nobody could catch it.
Then he caught himself.
“I’m not going to jinx that,” he said.
Stott is fine. He hit a three-run home run to right field in the first inning of Sunday afternoon’s 7-2 victory over the Marlins at loanDepot park. It was his second homer of the season, and his second in three days. The homers followed a game-tying triple in the ninth inning in Game 1 of Thursday’s walk-off victory over the Giants at Citizens Bank Park.
It was more than plenty for Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo, who allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings against his former team. Luzardo had a 7.94 ERA (20 earned runs in 22 2/3 innings) in his first four starts. He has a 1.50 ERA (three earned runs in 18 innings) in his last three to lower his season ERA to 5.09.
Sunday’s blast was another step forward for Stott, who has struggled offensively.
It was another small step forward for the bottom two-thirds of the Phillies’ lineup.
The Phillies’ 4-9 hitters entered Sunday ranked last in MLB with a combined .595 OPS, which was 43 points lower than the 29th ranked Giants. Conversely, the Phillies’ 1-3 hitters ranked seventh with a combined .799 OPS.
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said last week that if they want to get to where they want to go (i.e. World Series championship, parade down Broad Street), they need their big guys to produce.
But they also need their supporting cast to help.
Trea Turner doubled, and Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper walked to load the bases in the top of the first inning. Adolis García got Sunday off, so Mattingly hit Alec Bohm cleanup.
Bohm’s struggles are well known by this point, but Mattingly said, “I trust this guy’s going to hit. I feel like he’s been swinging better, so I just want to show confidence that I believe in him.”
Bohm’s fielder’s choice scored the game’s first run. Brandon Marsh walked to score the second run. J.T. Realmuto’s sacrifice fly made it 3-0. Stott’s three-run homer made it 6-0.