PHILADELPHIA _ Zach Eflin removed his glove Sunday afternoon and rubbed the ball with his hands as the Citizens Bank Park crowd rose to their feet.
Eflin had retired the first two outs in ninth inning of a 5-1 win over the Marlins with ease. He needed one more. Two pitches later, he got it.
Eflin was terrific as he threw his third complete game, struck out three, allowed seven hits, and walked none. It was the first complete-game win by a Phillies pitcher since Jeremy Hellickson in September 2016. The Phillies had played 364 games without their starting pitcher earning a complete-game win. The Phillies have had four complete-game wins since July 2016 and three of them belong to Eflin.
He joins Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Kyle Kendrick as the only Phillies pitchers since 2010 with three complete games. Eflin's complete game may have been a shutout had Cesar Hernandez not played a ground ball in the fourth inning that belonged to Jean Segura. Hernandez stepped in front of the charging Segura and was out of position to make a throw to first after fielding it. The miscue cost the Phillies a run.
The Phillies, after a listless series-opening loss on Thursday, rallied to win three of four from the last-place Marlins. They shut them out on Friday, held on for a win on Saturday, and finished the series on Sunday. They did not dominate the Marlins, but the Phillies did what they were supposed to do. The series win could be enough to move the Phillies past last week's disappointing road trip.
Bryce Harper drove in Jean Segura with a groundout in the third inning to pick up his 20th RBI of the season. The Phillies, for the first time in franchise history, have three players with 20 RBIs before May 1 as Harper joined Hoskins and Maikel Franco.
Harper scored from first base on Rhys Hoskins' first-inning double. Harper lost his helmet as he sprinted from second to third. Two innings later, Segura drove in Andrew McCutchen from first base with a triple to right field. McCutchen, just like Harper, lost his helmet on his journey home. Segura scored twice and had two hits.
