MIAMI -- From the second Tyler Phillips walked out of the dugout at loanDepot park, he felt the energy of around 8,000 Tartan Army members in his chest.
He only found out about their presence on the drive to the ballpark, when he saw people in kilts walking everywhere and was a bit confused.
“I didn't know they were going to show up like that,” Phillips said after the Marlins' 4-3 loss to the Rangers. “The energy was just kind of fueling me and giving me confidence out there.”
The crowd of thousands, with Scotland flags draped over their shoulders and national team jerseys, helped fuel a strong outing, as the right-hander allowed two runs over six innings on five hits and two walks against Texas.
Phillips threw 89 pitches and recorded four strikeouts, mixing his five-pitch arsenal for the most part, with the splitter and sinker accounting for two strikeouts apiece.
In the sixth, he had to work through some trouble after he walked Brandon Nimmo and Jake Burger before Ezequiel Duran, who had homered off the right-hander in the fourth, grounded into a double play.
“Everything I throw moves, so just trying to do my job towards ... like that sixth inning, I started running out of gas a little bit,” Phillips said. “Which I think is not normal for me. Getting up to 90 pitches started to get a little taxing for me, but other than that, one mistake.”
That one mistake came when Duran sent a 93.8 mph sinker a Statcast-projected 407 feet to center field for a two-run long ball. Nimmo -- who went 3-for-3 against him -- earned his second single earlier in the inning before crossing home plate on the home run.
“Nimmo just had a great game,” Phillips said. “Just kind of bullying me out there. I was supposed to get a sinker in, and I just kind of threw a scare pitch and left it over the middle a bit, and the guy hit it. But overall, I thought it was a much better bounce-back outing for myself.”
In his last outing, Phillips gave up eight earned runs, including three homers in four innings of work. The emphasis during his bullpen sessions from that June 16 start to Monday was being more on the attack and pitching with more conviction within the zone.
To manager Clayton McCullough, he did exactly that.
“Tyler was terrific,” McCullough said. “A real bounce-back outing. The strike throwing, I think it was 60 strikes out of almost 90 pitches. [The Rangers] were very aggressive early on him, and I think that played well for Tyler because he was in the zone with a variety of pitches and was able to keep them off the barrel for the most part.”
It was the 28-year-old's fifth start this season after moving into the rotation on May 25, and he sports a 3.09 ERA through 58 1/3 innings in 21 appearances.
The energy he felt on Monday was the first time he had experienced something like that. The one comparison came when he threw a complete game with the Phillies.
And even though he has not attended a soccer game, as far as Phillips is concerned, Scotland has a friend in him. The chants throughout the night were something he wished he had every single outing.
“It was electric,” Phillips said. “If I'm just driving around tonight and I see anyone in trouble, and they're wearing a kilt, I might pull over and help them.
“They just gave me energy. I wanted to reciprocate what they were bringing. It was awesome.”