PHILADELPHIA _ Flat? Not this time.
Five nights after Jake Arrieta criticized his Phillies teammates for a "flat" performance in a rain-delayed loss in New York, they backed him with their best offensive output in nearly two weeks.
It turned out that the Phillies needed every bit of that offense on Saturday night because neither Arrieta nor the bullpen was particularly sharp in a 12-9 victory over the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.
Never mind that the Phillies led 10-1 after five innings. Arrieta was unable to record an out in the sixth, and they needed to deploy two of their best relievers and get a two-run homer from Rhys Hoskins in the eighth inning to close out the National League's worst team. And still, the Marlins brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth against Hector Neris.
The victory was tempered, too, by a scary moment in the second inning. Jean Segura, making his return to the lineup after a 10-day absence because of a strained left hamstring, took a 90-mph fastball off the helmet from Marlins starter Trevor Richard. Segura lay face-down on the dirt next to home plate for a few minutes while assistant athletic trainer Shawn Fcasni attended to him. He finally got to his feet and walked off the field on his own.
The Phillies scored four runs in the second inning and one in the fourth against Marlins starter Trevor Richards, then added five in the fifth against reliever Jarlin Garcia. At that point, they led 10-1 and looked to be on their way to a laugher against the worst team in the National League.
It was an offensive outburst reminiscent of the season's first two weeks. And it was precisely what manager Gabe Kapler hoped would happen with Segura back in the two-hole, a move that put the Phillies' best contact hitter back between Andrew McCutchen and Bryce Harper and pushed Maikel Franco down to the No. 8 spot again.
For half the game, even after Segura's beaning, everything clicked. Nick Williams homered in the second inning before Harper lifted a two-run double to right field. McCutchen went deep in the fourth for his 800th career RBI. And the Phillies sent 10 batters to the plate in a two-out fifth-inning rally fueled by a two-run double by Sean Rodriguez, Segura's replacement.
But Arrieta labored just to get to the sixth inning. And once he did, he gave up four consecutive singles without recording an out before being lifted by Kapler.
It was a struggle from the start for Arrieta, who threw 29 pitches in the first inning despite holding the Marlins off the scoreboard. His only clean inning was the fourth. He gave up nine hits, a season high through six starts, and was charged with five runs after lefty reliever Jose Alvarez inherited a bases-loaded, none-out jam and allowed all three runners to score.
Even then, though, the Phillies appeared to have the game in hand. Kapler turned to Enyel De Los Santos in the seventh inning in the hopes that he could take it the rest of the way. Instead, the big right-hander gave up a two-run homer to Jorge Alfaro, and Kapler had to use high-leverage Seranthony Dominguez in the eighth inning and Neris in a one-run game in the ninth.
