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Phillies nip Marlins in series finale

Apr 18, 2011 - 12:40 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Carlos Ruiz's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth was the difference as the Phillies beat the Marlins, 3-2, at Citizens Bank Park.

After Ryan Madson (1-0) pitched a scoreless top of the eighth, Ruiz got the decisive run home. Jose Contreras escaped a jam in the ninth, helping the Phillies rebound from Friday's series-opening loss and snap the Marlins' three-game winning streak.

Saturday's contest was postponed because of weather and will be made up June 15 as part of a doubleheader.

Cole Hamels started for Philadelphia and pitched seven effective innings. He allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks, and struck out seven.

He got an early lead thanks to Placido Polanco, who homered with one out off Anibal Sanchez in the first inning. He hit a slightly outside pitch to right- center field, and wind helped the ball get out.

It was Polanco's first home run since July 22, 2010, and just the third opposite-field homer of his career, according to baseball-reference.com.

Jimmy Rollins followed with a walk and stole second. The throw to the bag bounced off the glove of third baseman Wes Helms, who had shifted toward the center of the diamond with Ryan Howard at the plate.

Rollins moved to third on the error and scored on Raul Ibanez's two-out single up the middle.

But those were the only two runs allowed by Sanchez, who gave up six hits, walked four and fanned eight in six innings.

"He did an outstanding job," Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said of Sanchez. "He was struggling at the beginning, but then he was hitting his spots and mixing up his pitches in and out, and he kept us in the game."

Hamels accumulated six of his strikeouts through the first three innings, getting four of them on swings and misses. The Marlins got better results in the following innings, and threatened to score in the fourth, when they had runners in scoring position and two away.

Hamels got John Buck to ground out to end that threat, but Florida evened the game in the sixth.

Omar Infante began the inning with a double and moved to third on a groundout. Mike Stanton then fought off a good pitch, using his strength to hit a grounder that made its way through the left side of the infield to get Infante home.

After Gaby Sanchez dropped a base hit into right field to put runners on the corners, Logan Morrison drove a fly ball to right to plate Stanton and make it a 2-2 game.

"They hit a few good pitches that I made, but then I also left a few pitches up and they were able to make the best of it," Hamels said. "That just shows the type of hitters that they have. If you're able to make good pitches they can still hit the ball."

Florida had an opportunity to go in front in the seventh, with runners on the corners and one out, but Infante grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.

Ryan Webb (0-2) held the Phillies scoreless in the home half and returned to the mound in the eighth, which Howard began by reaching on an error by Morrison, the Marlins' left fielder.

Ben Francisco then singled and Ibanez grounded to third, beating the second throw of a potential double play to leave runners on the corners. Ruiz followed with a fly ball deep enough to center to get Howard in.

Contreras got into some trouble in the ninth by walking two batters, but got Infante to hit into a game-ending groundout.

Game Notes

The Phillies avoided losing consecutive games for the first time this season...Gaby Sanchez has reached base in all 14 games this season, and has an overall streak of 18 dating back to last season. It's currently the longest such streak in the majors...Rollins has reached base in 13 of 14 games this season...Contreras has converted all three of his save opportunities in 2011...The Phillies improved to 6-0 in day games.