PHILADELPHIA _ Vince Velasquez struck out three of the first four batters he faced Saturday night. Then, he gave up four runs on five hits. Then, he missed a return throw from the catcher, leading to an inning-ending caught stealing. Then, he got lifted for a pinch hitter in the second inning.
Strangest start ever?
It was up there.
But, then, this is September, baseball's prime time for weirdness. With playoff races raging and desperation growing, expanded rosters enable a manager to get crazy, especially when it means keeping his team's faint postseason hopes from getting even dimmer.
And that's why, with no more days off in the regular season, Gabe Kapler can get away with using eight pitchers _ and 22 players overall, including rookie Scott Kingery, who was lifted for a pinch hitter before his first at-bat _ to help the Phillies erase an early four-run deficit and pull out a 5-4 victory over the Miami Marlins before an announced crowd of 24,695 at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies scratched out only four hits against seven Marlins pitchers. But one of them was Justin Bour's bases-loaded, two-run single as the pinch hitter for Velasquez, and the other was Cesar Hernandez's go-ahead three-run homer into the right-field bleachers against reliever Drew Rucinski in the fifth inning.
With the victory, the Phillies won a series for the first time in nearly six weeks. In 11 series since a four-game sweep of these same Marlins on Aug. 2-5, they had gone 0-10-1. They also kept the Atlanta Braves' magic number for clinching the National League East frozen at nine. With 15 games remaining, the Phillies are 6{ games behind the Braves.
Velasquez was one strike away from escaping the second inning with only one run allowed. But he gave up a three-run homer to J.T. Riddle on a 94-mph fastball, and the Marlins dropped the Phillies in a 4-0 hole.
But the Phillies loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the second on two walks and an error by Marlins left fielder Austin Dean. Recognizing a chance for a big inning, Kapler tried tapping into Asdrubal Cabrera's power by pinch-hitting him for Kingery. Cabrera struck out.
With one more chance to strike big, Kapler lifted Velasquez for Bour, who lined a two-run single to left field. Then, Kapler emptied the bullpen, parading one reliever after another for the next seven innings. And between them, Victor Arano, Austin Davis, Luis Garcia, Edubray Ramos, Hector Neris, Tommy Hunter and Pat Neshek held the Marlins scoreless.
All the Phillies needed was one more rally. Cabrera opened the fifth inning with a double, and after pinch-hitting Odubel Herrera got hit by a pitch, Hernandez smoked his 12th homer of the season for a 5-4 lead.
It was September baseball at its weirdest, with a deep bench and a never-ending conga line from the bullpen. In the final month of the season, that's a formula that often works.
