Marlins waste solid outing by Sandy Alcantara, make moves at trade deadline
MIAMI — Nick Castellanos slugged a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning to rally the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.
Castellanos, who has been mired in an 8-for-68 skid in the second half of the season, drilled a slider from Marlins closer David Robertson over the wall in left-center to punctuate the three-run outburst in the inning.
Robertson (4-3) relieved starter Sandy Alcantara and allowed a leadoff walk to Kyle Schwarber. After a strikeout, Bryce Harper hit an opposite field double that scored pinch-runner Jake Cave from first.
Alcantara followed up his second complete game in his last start by limiting the Phillies to four hits over eight scoreless innings. He allowed a walk and had five strikeouts.
Garrett Cooper and Jean Segura were in Miami’s original starting lineup before being traded shortly before gametime. Cooper was dealt to San Diego, and Segura went to Cleveland.
Philadelphia acquired All-Star right-hander Michael Lorenzen from the Detroit Tigers for a minor league prospect. Manager Rob Thomson said Lorenzen is being targeted to start the series finale on Thursday.
Philadelphia’s Gregoy Soto (3-4) pitched a scoreless eighth and Seranthony Dominguez closed with a perfect ninth for his first save.
Avisaíl Garcia’s RBI double in the third gave Miami an early lead. Garcia drove in Luis Arraez, who had two hits and saw his major league-leading batting average stay at .381.
The Marlins stranded 11 runners and were 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
Phillies starter Ranger Súarez was lifted after 6 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old left-hander allowed 10 hits, walked two and struck out three.
ROSTER MOVES
The Marlins recalled INF-OF Garrett Hampson from Triple-A Jacksonville and optioned RHP Edward Cabrera to the same minor league club. Miami also reinstated LHP Andrew Nardi from the injured list.
The Phillies designated INF-OF Josh Harrison for assignment.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: C J.T. Realmuto was a late scratch because of a right hand bruise.
Marlins: RHP Anthony Bender (right elbow surgery) is scheduled to throw a 20-to-25 pitch bullpen session at the team’s spring training complex in Jupiter, Florida, this week.
UP NEXT
RHP Zack Wheeler (8-5, 3.74) will start the third game of the four-game series for the Phillies on Wednesday against Marlins LHP Braxton Garrett (5-3, 4.08).
Marlins bolster lineup; trade Garrett Cooper
MIAMI — The Marlins acquired infielder Jake Burger from the Chicago White Sox and first baseman Josh Bell from the Cleveland Guardians at Tuesday’s trade deadline as the team bolstered its lineup for a playoff push.
Miami sent pitching prospect Jake Eder to Chicago in exchange for Burger and dealt infielder Jean Segura and infield prospect Kahlil Watson to Cleveland for Bell. Segura will be released by the Guardians.
Also Tuesday, the Marlins acquired left-hander Ryan Weathers from the San Diego Padres for infielder Garrett Cooper, right-hander Sean Reynolds and cash.
The Marlins entered Tuesday’s games tied with Arizona and Milwaukee for the final NL wild-card spot. The club could use an offensive jolt as it tries to make its first postseason berth in a full season since winning the World Series in 2003. The Marlins reached the postseason during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and lost to the Braves in the NL Division Series.
Burger, 27, is tied for eighth in the majors with 25 home runs this season. He’s hitting a home run per every 11.76 at bats, the second-best mark in the AL behind Shohei Ohtani (10.10).
The Marlins gave up a top pitching prospect in Eder, who was their No. 4 ranked pitching prospect, according to MLB.com. But Miami needed to add a power bat to a lineup ranked third-to-last in home runs and bottom five in runs scored.
Weathers, 23, posted a 5.29 ERA with 41 walks and 81 strikeouts over a combined 18 starts (20 appearances) between San Diego and Triple-A El Paso this season.
Cooper, 32, had been with Miami since 2018 and was the longest-tenured Marlin.
“This has been a wild ride. I’ve gone through so many things with this organization,” he said Tuesday. “So many different coaching staffs, so many different hitting coaches. The fruits of the labor, we’re doing well, they’re doing well now. It was an exciting time to be a part of this organization.”
Desperate to find a power hitter, the Guardians signed Bell to a $33 million, two-year contract in December. However, the signing didn’t deliver big results as Bell struggled at the plate for much of the first half of the season.
Bell, a switch-hitter, batted just .233 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs.
Watson was a first-round pick in 2021 but is hitting .206 in 58 games at High-A this season.
Segura signed a $17 million, two-year deal with Miami in January. Cleveland is absorbing the remainder of Segura’s contract, including a $2 million buyout on a club option for 2025.
Antonetti said the teams reached an agreement just before the deadline and due to a communications glitch had to finalize terms after the 6 p.m. cutoff.
Segura signed a two-year deal with the Marlins in January after going to the World Series with Philadelphia in 2022 but struggled at the plate. He is batting a career-low .219 this season with a .277 on-base percentage.