Phillies at Marlins
The Philadelphia Phillies bounced back from an embarrassing loss with a solid win and have a chance to take the three-game series when they visit the Miami Marlins for the finale on Sunday. The Phillies squandered a seven-run lead in Friday's 19-11 setback but turned the momentum immediately with a 9-3 triumph on Saturday.
Superstar Bryce Harper is out of the lineup this weekend while on paternity leave, but former All-Star Corey Dickerson picked up the slack on Saturday by going 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and five RBIs while working out of the cleanup spot in the order. Philadelphia pulled within 1 1/2 games of the Chicago Cubs for the second National League wild card with Saturday's triumph and has won three of its last four games. The Marlins were looking for their first back-to-back wins since July 28-29 on Saturday and will go into Sunday trying for their first series win since taking three of four from Arizona from July 26-29. Miami will face a tough challenge with Philadelphia ace Aaron Nola taking the mound Sunday opposite Marlins right-hander Elieser Hernandez.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, FS Florida (Miami)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Aaron Nola (12-3, 3.51 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Elieser Hernandez (2-5, 5.18)
Nola had little trouble carving up the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, when he scattered two runs and four hits over seven innings while striking out seven to earn the win. The Louisiana native surrendered a total of seven runs in 26 innings over his last four starts while notching 27 strikeouts. Nola is 0-1 in two starts against Miami this season despite holding the Marlins to a total of three runs - two earned - in 14 2/3 innings.
Hernandez is trying to find some consistency and allowed one or no runs in three of his last four appearances while getting knocked around for at least four runs in each of the other three turns. The 24-year-old Venezuela native held Atlanta to one run and three hits on Tuesday but was pulled after four innings. Hernandez made a pair of starts against Philadelphia in June and went 1-0 while yielding a total of five runs and seven hits in 10 2/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Marlins RF Brian Anderson could miss the rest of the season after suffering a broken finger on Friday.
2. Philadelphia CF Scott Kingery is 3-for-7 with six RBIs in the series.
3. Miami C Jorge Alfaro is 6-for-9 with a home run and three runs scored in the series.