MIAMI _ As the Marlins lost to the Phillies, 4-3, Tuesday night, there were a handful of other games of interest happening simultaneously around the country. The status of those games _ Cardinals-Pirates in Pittsburgh, Mets-Reds in Cincinnati to cite two _ was readily available to manager Don Mattingly or any other Marlin who wanted them, should they choose to glance at the brightly colored scoreboard in left-center field.
Mattingly keeps on an eye on what those other teams do, of course, with the Marlins trying to stay competitive in the National League wild-card race. But he can't bring himself to play the if-this-then-that game. Not this late in the season, not with his team falling apart the way it is.
"I never look at the standings as far as doing the math," manager Don Mattingly said Tuesday afternoon in the home dugout at Marlins Park. "Because the math is depressing."
The reality, too, is increasingly depressing for the Marlins, who have lost 10 of their past 11 games and are three under .500 for the first time since April 26. Miami's loss Tuesday was its second in a row and eighth in 15 games this season against Philadelphia.
On a night when the Marlins' two most powerful bats, Giancarlo Stanton and Justin Bour, were activated from the disabled list and available as pinch-hitters, the Marlins' blast off the bench came from Ichiro Suzuki. His two-run homer to right in the eighth inning was the 3,019th hit and first pinch-hit dinger of his career.
The Marlins got the would-be tying run to second base in the eighth and ninth innings, but failed to drive the runner in.
Stanton (single) and Bour (walk) also got into the game. The Marlins' only other run scored during a four-hit rally in the fifth inning, when Adeiny Hechavarria singled to plate J.T. Realmuto. It could have turned into more, but Xavier Scruggs was thrown out at third base before Stanton's single.
Right-hander Jose Urena pitched quickly but not effectively for Miami. He allowed four runs in five innings, striking out five while walking one. A 32-pitch first inning _ during which four of the first five batters reached and two scored _ put him in an early hole from which he never climbed out. The Phillies tacked on runs in the third inning (Tommy Joseph RBI double) and fifth inning (Freddy Galvis RBI single).
Odubel Herrera flashed a glimpse of what the Marlins and rest of the NL East might have to deal with for years to come. The 24-year-old All-Star, who is under the Phillies' contractual control through 2020, went 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored. He also made a running catch in right-center field when Jeff Francoeur was looking for extra bases in the second.
A less-heralded Phillie, left-handed starter Adam Morgan, held the Marlins to one run on five hits over six innings. Morgan picked up his second win in 17 major league starts year and lowered his season ERA to 5.90.
