MIAMI _ By the time Friday came to an end, the Miami Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies were in the exact same position in the division standings as when the day began.
The teams split their doubleheader at Marlins Park, the first of two that will take place during this seven-game, five-day series.
Philadelphia won the first game 11-0. Miami got the split with a 5-3 win in the nightcap. Both games were seven innings.
The Marlins (21-20) remain a half game behind the Phillies (22-20) for second place in the National League East. Both teams are trailing the Atlanta Braves, who are 26-19 after losing, 8-7, in 12 innings against the Washington Nationals.
The Marlins' win to close out the doubleheader came by exploiting one of the Phillies' weaknesses all season: Their bullpen. Philadelphia entered Friday with the worst reliever ERA in MLB (7.35).
Miami executed in the third on a Lewis Brinson solo home run against Heath Hembree, scored three more runs in the fourth against Ranger Suarez on an Isan Diaz RBI single and Jorge Alfaro two-run single, and added a fifth when Starling Marte drove in pinch-runner Mote Harrison in the sixth..
Daniel Castano worked 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball before James Hoyt (1/3 inning), Brad Boxberger (1 inning), Brandon Kintzler (1 inning) and Yimi Garcia (1 inning) held the Phillies to two runs the rest of the way.
The nightcap was a stark contrast from Game 1, which featured a dominant performance from Phillies starter Aaron Nola.
Nola dazzled for seven scoreless innings, while four Phillies players had multiple hits in the dominant 11-0 victory. Nola struck out 10 of the 25 batters he faced and held the Marlins without a hit until the fifth inning when Brian Anderson and Diaz both hit singles. Anderson's hit was erased when Garrett Cooper grounded into a double play. Anderson had two of Miami's three overall hits in the game, his second coming with two outs in the seventh. Cooper was hit by a pitch after Anderson's single to put runners on first and second before Diaz lined out to Didi Gregorious to end the game.
Meanwhile, Marlins starting pitcher Trevor Rogers, the ninth-ranked prospect in the Marlins' organization according to MLB Pipeline, dazzled for two innings before Philadelphia's offense came to life.
The Phillies scored four in the third inning on an Andrew McCutchen two-run home run and Jean Segura two-run double. They added five more before recording an out in the fourth on an Adam Haseley RBI single, McCutchen RBI single and Rhys Hoskins three-run homer to chase Rogers from the game.
Rogers' ERA jumped from 3.00 heading into the game to 6.50.
They tacked on two more in the fifth against Robert Dugger, who served as the Marlins' 29th man for the doubleheader and tossed the final four innings to preserve Miami's bullpen for the second game.
McCutchen had three hits, drove in three runs and was a triple shy of the cycle. Haseley also had three hits. Bohm and Hoskins both had two hits and scored two runs.
