Miami Marlins vs Philadelphia Phillies Box Score on Aug 23, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 23, 2017

PHILADELPHIA -- A three-run home run by rookie slugger Rhys Hoskins punctuated a five-run third inning, as the Philadelphia Phillies backed a terrific outing by Mark Leiter Jr. with a well-rounded offensive performance en route to an 8-0 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.

Leiter Jr. carried a no-hitter through five innings, a second-inning walk to Marcell Ozuna his only blemish until Miguel Rojas doubled to lead off the sixth.

The son of 11-year major league veteran Mark Leiter still finished out what was the best of his five major league starts thus far, going seven innings for the first time while giving up just one hit and two walks. He struck out five.

Leiter (2-3) lowered his ERA from 4.38 to 3.86.

The Phillies (46-79) chased Marlins starter Justin Nicolino with one out in the third inning, batting around in the frame while opening a 6-0 lead.

Hoskins, quickly becoming a sensation in a town starved for some positive results on the diamond, lit up the crowd of 19,161 with a three-run shot that hit the first row of the second deck in left field. He tacked on a two-run double in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 8-0.

That gives Hoskins seven home runs and 16 RBIs in his first 14 games, numbers no Phillies hitter had achieved in the first 130-plus years of the franchise.

The 24-year-old Hoskins, a fifth-round selection of the club back in 2014, was rated the No. 4 prospect in the organization by Baseball America and has already impressed with his power and his overall approach at the plate. His Wednesday homer, which came on a full count after he was down 0-2 in the at-bat, was just the latest example.

Hoskins went 2-for-3 to raise his average to .271, leading a Phillies offense that collected 11 hits.

Nicolino (2-2) was tagged for six runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.

The loss snapped a run of three straight victories for the Marlins (62-63). Miami had rallied from nine games under .500 back on July 19 to move within 5 1/2 games of Colorado for the second NL wild-card spot entering Wednesday night.

The Phillies opened the scoring in the first inning on an RBI double by Tommy Joseph, driving in Nick Williams, who had singled with two outs and advanced to second on a Hoskins walk.

Jorge Alfaro also had a two-run double off Nicolino to close out the scoring in the third.

NOTES: The Marlins swept a doubleheader to open the four-game series on Tuesday, winning the first game 12-8 and the second 4-7. They will go for the series win on Thursday afternoon. Miami RHP Vance Worley (2-3, 4.82 ERA) takes the mound against RHP Jake Thompson (1-1, 4.20), expected to be called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. ... Prior to the game, the Phillies called up RHP Drew Anderson from Lehigh Valley and optioned OF Cam Perkins to the Triple-A club. ... The Marlins still lead the season series 6-5.