Ranger Suarez knocks out nine as Phillies defeat……

Ranger Suarez knocks out nine as Phillies defeat Marlins.

Ranger Suarez struck out nine in seven perfect innings, and Nick Castellanos homered in front of his local fans to help the Philadelphia Phillies upset the Miami Marlins 8-2 on Friday night.

Castellanos is from Davie, Florida, around 24 miles from the Marlins’ stadium. Johan Rojas, the Phillies’ center fielder and nine-hole hitter, also homered, going 3-for-5 with two RBI.

Suarez (7-0) extended his outstanding start by decreasing his ERA to 1.50. He gave up three singles and two walks as the Phillies won for the 12th time in fourteen games.

The Phillies (27-12) have the National League’s best record.

Miami (10-30) has one of the poorest records in the majors and is 17.5 games behind the Phillies in the National League East.

Trevor Rogers (0-6) took the loss, dropping the Marlins to 0-8 when he starts this season. He is also 1-6 in ten career starts versus the Phillies.

Rogers, who is 5-19 since the start of 2022, surrendered nine hits, two walks, and five runs, four of which were earned, in 3 1/3 innings.

The Phillies scored first, with two runs in the second inning. Castellanos homered on the first pitch of the inning, sending a changeup 400 feet to the opposite field. He smacked a low and outside pitch to right center.

With one out in the same inning, Edmundo Sosa doubled. With one out, Sosa scored on Rojas’ single to center.

The Phillies stretched their advantage to 5-0 in the fourth inning after Marlins third baseman Jake Burger made a fielding mistake. After Sosa walked, Christian Pache hit an opposite-field RBI double to right center. One out later, Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run single.

Philadelphia extended its lead to 6-0 in the fifth inning with another unearned run. Whit Merrifield got a leadoff walk and scored after Rojas’ chopper glanced off Burger’s glove, causing an error.

The Phillies cruised from there, but Miami’s Josh Bell smacked a two-run double in the eighth to cut the margin to 8-2.