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Major League Baseball
Philadelphia 7, Miami 1
When: 7:10 PM ET, Friday, August 21, 2015
Where: Marlins Park, Miami, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Will Little, 1B - Pat Hoberg, 2B - Ted Barrett, 3B - Angel Hernandez
Attendance: 19391

MIAMI -- Before the first question was asked in Friday's postgame press conference, Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin had already delivered the line of the night.

"So far," Mackanin joked, "that's a really good trade."

The trade Mackanin was referring to was the one in which the rebuilding Phillies sent three-time All-Star left-hander Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers in exchange for right-hander Jerad Eickhoff and several other prospects.

Eickhoff prevailed in his major league debut on Friday night, tossing six scoreless innings and hitting a two-run single to lead the Phillies to a 7-1 win over the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park.

Eickhoff, who had his parents and his girlfriend in the stands after making the trip from Evansville, Ind., allowed just five hits and one walk while striking out five.

"It's surreal," he said. "You grow up dreaming about something like this."

Added Mackanin: "He came as advertised. We were told he likes to pound the strike zone with all his pitches, and he showed he was able to do that. I like his curve ball, and I really like his slider."

Eickhoff's only major scare came in the fourth inning. He allowed a one-out single to first baseman Justin Bour and a double off the left-field wall by center fielder Marcell Ozuna, who missed what would have been his third homer in three days by just a few feet.

Fortunately for Eickhoff, the slow-footed Bour was thrown out at the plate on a strong relay by shortstop Freddy Galvis and a leaping grab and tag by catcher Cameron Rupp.

Mackanin said he took Eickhoff out after six innings because he was so hyped up for his first start, and he was also not used to running the bases.

"He was soaking wet," Mackanin said. "He was probably mentally exhausted more than anything."

Marlins rookie right-hander Kendry Flores (1-2), making his first major league start, allowed seven hits, two walks and five runs in five innings.

Flores said he wasn't nervous, just ineffective.

"They were aggressive with the pitches in the zone, but they didn't chase the bad pitches," he said. "Apparently, they studied me well."

Offensively, the Phillies were led by first baseman Ryan Howard, who had three doubles and two RBIs.

"I kidded him -- don't you hit homers anymore?" Mackanin said.

Eickhoff, who had not swung a bat in a game since his high school days, got his hit on his second major league at-bat, grounding a single in between third base and shortstop.

"I guess I closed my eyes and made contact," Eickhoff said. "I haven't had a competitive at-bat in six or seven years (since high school)."

The other issue for Eickhoff was a comebacker off his pitching hand. It bent some of his fingers back, but the pain went away quickly, he said.

With the win, the Phillies (48-74) pulled within two games of the Marlins (50-72) in the battle to stay out of last place in the NL East.

The Phillies are now 38-0 when leading after eight innings.

Philadelphia opened the scoring with four runs in the fourth, taking advantage of Marlins left fielder Cole Gillespie.

Phillies third baseman Andres Blanco doubled to left off the wrist of Gillespie, who dived for the ball but overran it. Later in the inning, Gillespie had two throwing errors on plays at the plate -- on a sacrifice fly by Galvis and Eickhoff's two-run single.

Gillespie left the game after the fifth inning with a wrist injury probably stemming from Blanco's hit.

Philadelphia made it 5-0 in the fifth. Center fielder Odubel Herrera, who had an RBI single in the fourth, singled and scored on Howard's double.

The Phillies made it 6-0 in the sixth. Galvis singled and scored after Rupp singled and Miami's Derek Dietrich, who replaced Gillespie in left, botched the fielding play.

Dietrich got the run back in the seventh, pulling a pitch to right field off reliever Jeanmar Gomez for his ninth homer of the season.

By that time, though, the Phillies had a comfortable lead.

"We played a sloppy game," Marlins manager Dan Jennings said. "(Eickhoff) did a nice job for a kid who just got his first opportunity. We had a tough time figuring him out."

NOTES: Marlins SS Adeiny Hechavarria had his career-high 13-game hit streak snapped. ... In the past year, the Marlins have traded 10 of their top 30 prospects, including five of their top six -- LHP Andrew Heaney, RHP Anthony DeSclafani, LHP Brian Flynn, 3B Colin Moran and OF Jake Marisnick. ... The Marlins have used 13 pitchers age 25 or younger this season, the most in the majors. ... Marlins RHP David Phelps (stress fracture, right forearm) is out for the season but said he will be ready for spring training. ... Marlins RHP Carter Capps, whose average fastball of 98 mph is third-fastest in the majors, threw a bullpen session on Thursday and hopes to return soon from a strained right elbow. ... Milwaukee claimed LHP Cesar Jimenez after the Phillies designated him for assignment late Thursday night. ... Phillies OF/INF Darnell Sweeney, who made his big-league debut Thursday after being acquired from the Dodgers in the Chase Utley trade, led the Pacific Coast League in steals (32) at the time of the trade.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Philadelphia   Miami
Jerad Eickhoff Player Kendry Flores
Win W/L Loss
6.0 IP 5.0
5 Strikeouts 5
5 Hits 7
0.00 ERA 9.00
Hitting
Philadelphia   Miami
Ryan Howard Player Dee Gordon
3 Hits 2
2 RBI 0
0 HR 0
6 TB 4
.600 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Philadelphia 11 0 15 .297 14 8 6 3 0 0
Miami 8 1 14 .242 15 7 1 1 0 3