Bryson Stott homered and drove in two runs as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the host Miami Marlins 5-2 on Thursday night for their fifth win in a row.
Stott went 2-for-4 for the National League East-leading Phillies (84-56) in the opener of a four-game series. Kody Clemens contributed a two-run double as part of a four-run sixth inning.
Phillies starter Ranger Suarez (12-6) pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits — all singles — and two walks. He struck out four.
Matt Strahm pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his third save of the year. Seven Phillies relievers have recorded at least one save this year.
Miami (52-88) had won three of its previous four games.
Marlins starter Adam Oller (1-2) gave up four runs on five hits and five walks in 5 1/3 innings. He fanned six.
Nick Fortes had two hits for Miami.
Jesus Sanchez, who left Miami’s Tuesday game due to a back spasm, delivered an RBI single as a pinch hitter. It was the second straight night that Sanchez had a pinch-hit single.
Philadelphia opened the scoring in the first inning. Trea Turner and Bryce Harper drew one-out walks, and Stott delivered a two-out, opposite-field bloop single to left to knock in Turner.
Philadelphia took a 5-0 lead in the sixth, a rally that started with Stott’s solo homer to right, a 406-foot blast off a high fastball.
Former Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto followed with a walk, and he raced to third on Brandon Marsh’s single. Anthony Veneziano replaced Oller on the mound, and Clemens greeted him with an opposite-field, two-run double to left.
Clemens advancing to third on a single by Johan Rojas, Clemens scored on a wild pitch.
Miami got on the board in the seventh against reliever Max Lazar. Pinch hitter Griffin Conine stroked a one-out double and scored on Sanchez’s two-out single.
The Marlins cut the deficit to 5-2 in the eighth. Jake Burger hustled his way to a one-out double, and he scored two batters later when third baseman Clemens committed a throwing error on a routine grounder from Otto Lopez. Clemens’ throw sailed over the head of first baseman Harper.