Instant Replay: Marlins 5, Phillies 3

BOX SCORE

The trend of all fastballs and curveballs from Jerad Eickhoff ended on Monday, but the trend of no run support for him held true. Eickhoff was better than he was last week in Atlanta, finally mixing in sliders to keep the opposition off of his predictable fastball-curveball pattern, but the Phillies failed to come up with the timely hit in a 5-3 loss to the Marlins.

The Phils did threaten in the ninth inning. Representing the tying run with one out in the ninth, Maikel Franco drove a ball 400 feet to the warning track in left-center, where it was caught a foot in front of the wall.

The Phils went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Over the last two games, they're 4 for 31 with men in scoring position and have stranded 26.

The game's most important at-bat before the ninth belonged to Tommy Joseph, who came to the plate representing the tying run with two outs in the seventh inning. With Ryan Howard on the bench, manager Pete Mackanin left Joseph in against right-handed reliever Kyle Barraclough. He struck out on three pitches. 

Starting pitching report
Eickhoff, who entered the night having thrown his slider just 7.5 percent of the time this season, threw 20 sliders. Giancarlo Stanton flailed at the pitch in his second at-bat and struck out against it in his third. Eickhoff's fastball velocity was also up in the early innings, consistently reaching the 92-93 mph range.

Eickhoff allowed three runs in six innings for the third time in four starts. He pitched his way out of trouble in the fifth inning, allowing just one run after loading the bases with no outs. He induced a sharply hit groundball by Christian Yelich right to Freddy Galvis for an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play.

Again, Eickhoff was provided a lack of run support. The Phillies have scored just 13 runs while he's been in the game in his eight starts. The only pitchers in the majors with that many starts and fewer runs of support are Matt Cain, Martin Perez and James Shields.

The loss drops Eickhoff to 1-6 with a 4.44 ERA. Those six losses are the most among all National League pitchers.

Marlins left-hander Adam Conley allowed eight hits but got outs when he needed them, giving up just one run over six innings. He struck out five and induced eight flyouts, six to centerfielder Marcell Ozuna. Conley is 3-2 with a 3.40 ERA.

Bullpen report
Andrew Bailey had a rough seventh inning, recording one out and allowing three baserunners, two of which scored. Bailey's ERA is 4.00 but seven of his nine appearances have been scoreless.

David Hernandez pitched another scoreless inning with two strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.95. He has 26 K's in 18⅓ innings. Hernandez has struck out multiple batters in eight of his appearances. The only NL reliever with more multi-strikeout games is St. Louis' Seung-hwan Oh.

At the plate
Tyler Goeddel, the rookie Rule 5 pick who struggled badly in April, is now brimming with confidence. His walk-off outfield assist from deep left field on Saturday was the Phillies' defensive play of the year, and he's hit to go along with it. Goeddel went 3 for 4 with a double Monday to raise his batting average to a season-high .246. He's 7 for 14 in his last four games after going 7 for 44 up to that point. 

Joseph singled up the middle to lead off the sixth inning for his first major-league hit. He will have an opportunity for more on Tuesday against Marlins left-hander Wei-Yin Chen. After that, the Phillies are scheduled to face seven consecutive right-handers, but that includes a three-game series in Detroit, where Joseph could play first base with Howard serving as the designated hitter. Mackanin said before the game he doesn't want Joseph to sit idly on the bench and fall out of the groove he was in at Triple A.

For the Marlins, Martin Prado did what he always does against the Phillies, going 2 for 2 with a sac fly and a walk. Ozuna and Justin Bour hit solo homers, and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria doubled twice and scored twice.

In the field
Joseph, starting his second career major-league game at first base, leapt to snag a line shot off the bat of Bour in the second inning.

An inning earlier, Odubel Herrera and Peter Bourjos had a miscommunication on a shallow fly to right-center. They converged and neither caught it, but Herrera was able to pick it up in time to nail a greedy Prado trying to stretch a single into a double.

Carlos Ruiz had a miscue on a bunt attempt by Conley with a man on second base. The ball went about a foot in front of the plate and Ruiz reacted instantly and threw to third to try to retire the lead runner, but Hechavarria decided not to try to advance. By the time Franco threw across the diamond Conley was safe. Chooch pressed square when he should have pressed circle.

Ruiz was also called for catcher's interference for the second game in a row. 

Up next
Vince Velasquez (4-1, 2.70) looks to bounce back from two straight four-run, six-inning starts Tuesday against the Marlins. Chen (3-1, 4.40) pitches for Miami. Chen gave up four runs on 11 hits over five innings with no strikeouts when he faced the Phils on May 6.