The Phillies apparently aren't ready to give up first place in the NL East.
They were on their way to doing that before rallying for four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull off a dramatic 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night.
The victory improved the Phillies to 60-48 and allowed them to hold on to their half-game lead over Atlanta in the division. The Braves won their ballgame over the Mets in New York. They are 58-47.
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The Phillies rallied for their win against Miami closer Kyle Barraclough, who could not protect his team's one-run lead in the ninth.
Barraclough gave up a leadoff walk to Rhys Hoskins, a one-out infield hit to Carlos Santana and a one-out walk to Asdrubal Cabrera to bring Nick Williams to the plate with the bases loaded.
Williams did not waste his opportunity. He drove in the tying run with a soft infield ground out just past the left of the pitcher's mound.
The next batter, Maikel Franco, won it for the Phillies with a two-out, three-run home run that included a huge bat flip.
The Phillies' pitching was good. Starter Nick Pivetta pitched six innings of two-run ball. Austin Davis pitched two scoreless innings and Tommy Hunter a scoreless ninth.
Miami rookie Pablo Lopez, who entered the game with a 5.34 ERA, held the Phils to a run over six innings.
Pivetta entered the game with a 6.84 ERA in his previous 10 starts. Despite the right-hander's struggles, management passed on acquiring a starting pitcher at the trade deadline in part because it had faith that Pivetta could turn himself around and pitch like the guy that had a 3.26 ERA in his first 11 starts.
Despite leaving the game trailing, 2-0, Pivetta took a step forward in this outing. He pitched six innings - surviving a 33-minute rain delay at the start of the third inning - and gave up four hits. He walked none and struck out seven. The two runs he allowed came in the fourth when he gave up a one-out single to J.T. Realmuto and a home run to Justin Bour on a full-count changeup.
Lopez, the Marlins' starter, held the Phillies scoreless for the first 5 2/3 innings. Hoskins got the Phils on the board with a solo homer to left with two outs in the sixth. The homer was Hoskins' team-leading 22nd and 16th since coming back from a broken jaw on June 9.
