MIAMI -- Until the sixth inning, the Marlins couldn't manage so much as a baserunner. Their fortunes changed on Justin Bour's pinch-hit home run. But it wasn't until the 10th that they were able to settle things.
Yadiel Rivera celebrated his birthday a day early and became a walk-off hero with his RBI single off Yacksel Rios, scoring Cameron Maybin and lifting the Marlins to a 2-1 win over the Phillies in 10 innings on Tuesday night at Marlins Park.
"My birthday is tomorrow, so it's a pretty good gift," said Rivera, who turns 26 on Wednesday. "I feel great. That's the job I've got, to come off the bench. Everybody on the bench has to be ready to do the job. I got it done tonight, and we got the win."

The Marlins have now won four straight and six of seven. After taking the first two against the Phillies, they've secured three straight series victories.
To keep the streak going, it took timely hits by two players who weren't in the starting lineup. Rivera, a reserve infielder, was 2-for-20 before his line drive to right-center with the infield drawn in. And Bour has not started since Friday due to back tightness.
"You saw his batting practice today was really free," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Bour. "To get him back, and that's the reason you want to give a guy [another day] and make sure he's healthy, instead of trying to play through something and it ends up being a month thing. Being able to let him sit there, get it right."

In the 10th, Maybin nearly provided a one-out walk-off blast, but his drive to deep left was just foul. He then tripled. Miguel Rojas was intentionally walked before Rivera ended it with a single to center for his first career walk-off hit.
"How can you not be happy for him?" Mattingly said. "This is a kid who works so hard and continues to work on his swing, a guy we think that can hit. He's not really hit before, in general. But he's got a loose swing. He really works hard."

For half the game, it wasn't even certain if the Marlins could manage a baserunner or a hit. Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin was perfect through five innings in his first big league start since Aug. 18, 2017.
But in the sixth, Rojas opened the inning by floating a soft fly ball into short right field, near the line. In spacious Marlins Park, the ball dropped just out of the reach of second baseman Cesar Hernandez and right fielder Aaron Altherr. Rojas sprinted into second with a double. According to Statcast™, the hit probability was 14 percent.

The Marlins nearly wasted the opportunity when Lewis Brinson's sacrifice bunt attempt led to a fielder's choice, with Rojas out trying to advance to third. Eflin then picked Brinson off at first, courtesy of a replay challenge.

With two outs, Bour pulled the Marlins even with his fifth home run, a blast to right that projected at 405 feet. It was his second pinch-hit homer of the season and fourth of his career. Still, pinch-hitting has been a long process for Bour.
"I was pretty terrible when I first started pinch-hitting," Bour said. "I had guys I could talk to on the bench -- Jeff Mathis, Reed Johnson, Ichiro Suzuki. So I watched the guys and how they went about it, learned from them. I've been able to develop my own plan, but it's not an easy thing. You can't expect someone to go up there and hit a home run every time."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
As Eflin set down the Marlins in order through five innings, Jarlin Garcia continued his impressive stretch as a starter. The Marlins' left-hander allowed one run on five hits in six innings. After opening the season in the bullpen, Garcia has now given up a total of 10 hits as a starter. According to Stats LLC, the 10 hits are the fewest surrendered by any pitcher in franchise history through his first four starts. Garcia walked one batter and struck out three.
"It was kind of surprising at the beginning with how quickly everything was going," Garcia said. "I was focused on getting quick outs, but then he'd get quick outs. So the game was going kind of quickly. You were speeding yourself but also maintaining yourself. Once I got accustomed to the flow of the game, I was able to settle in."

SOUND SMART
With his two-out single in the sixth inning, J.T. Realmuto's hitting streak is now 10 straight games, one shy of his personal high (July 25-Aug. 9, 2016).
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Tayron Guerrero's fastball has gained plenty of attention, on Monday maxing at 101.8 mph, which at the time was the highest reading by any pitcher this season. But on Tuesday, Guerrero snapped off an 85-mph slider to strike out Jorge Alfaro swinging with runners on first and second and one out in the ninth. There was a scary moment earlier in the inning when Guerrero plunked Scott Kingery on the right arm with a 98-mph fastball, but the lanky right-hander recovered to fan Alfaro and pinch-hitter Pedro Florimon.

HE SAID IT
"It was going to be one of those, you watch it. I'm going to stand right here and make sure. I knew it had a chance. The very last second, I was talking to it, but it wouldn't listen." -- Maybin, on his foul ball in the 10th that nearly was a home run
UP NEXT
Jose Urena made big strides in his last start, giving up one run in seven innings, but he still seeks his first win of the season. Urena gets another shot at 7:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday going for a three-game sweep of the Phillies. Right-hander Aaron Nola starts for Philadelphia. Bour (back spasms) is expected back in the lineup for the first time since Friday.