One night after pulverizing the baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies proved they can win with pitching and grit, too. Walker Buehler delivered five scoreless innings in his third straight win since joining the Phillies, Alec Bohm’s first-inning groundout stood up as the lone run, and Philadelphia edged the Miami Marlins 1-0 on Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park. The victory not only solidified the Phillies’ playoff momentum but also officially eliminated Miami from the National League wild-card race.
The contrast from Wednesday’s record-setting performance couldn’t have been sharper. After launching a franchise-best eight home runs in an 11-1 rout that locked up a first-round bye, the Phillies managed only a scratch run against Miami starter Janson Junk. It was enough thanks to airtight pitching.
Buehler (10-7), signed on a minor-league deal just weeks ago, continued his remarkable late-season revival. The right-hander allowed three hits, three walks, and hit a batter across 87 pitches. More importantly, he worked out of traffic to keep the scoreboard clean, improving to 3-0 in three appearances since being added to the rotation.
“Big-game stuff,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s been exactly what we needed, exactly when we needed it.”
Philadelphia turned to Taijuan Walker in the sixth as part of a planned tandem. That decision immediately looked shaky when Walker issued a leadoff walk to Xavier Edwards and gave up a single to Liam Hicks. With two on and nobody out, the Marlins had their best chance. But Walker bore down, retiring Otto Lopez on a routine fly before striking out Griffin Conine and Connor Norby to end the inning.
“That was the game right there,” Thomson said. “Taijuan shut the door.”
Walker handled two innings, Matt Strahm took the eighth, and after an hour-long rain delay in the ninth, veteran David Robertson — now 40 — closed it for his second save of the season.
Junk (6-4) pitched effectively for Miami, yielding just the unearned run on Bohm’s groundout in the first inning. But with no offensive support, his effort went unrewarded.
For the Marlins, the loss was a quiet end to an already uphill battle in the wild-card chase. Despite a roster featuring 13 rookies, Miami had remained on the fringe until this week’s set in Philadelphia.
The Phillies close out the regular season with a three-game series at home against the Minnesota Twins beginning Friday. Aaron Nola (4-10, 6.46 ERA) will look to build confidence heading into October, facing Minnesota’s Joe Ryan (13-9, 3.47).
The Marlins wrap up their campaign at home against the New York Mets, who are clinging to the NL’s third wild-card spot. Sandy Alcantara (10-12, 5.48) is slated to face New York’s rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat (0-1, 3.94).
For Philadelphia, Thursday showed they don’t need fireworks every night to win in October. For Miami, it was the end of the line.
