Prado homers, drives in 4, leads Haren, Marlins past Phils
MIAMI (AP) After a 3-11 start, it didn't take long for the Miami Marlins to get back to the .500 mark.
Martin Prado homered and drove in four runs, leading Dan Haren and the Miami Marlins over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-0 on Saturday.
The Marlins won for ninth time in 10 games to improve to 12-12 overall and sent Philadelphia to its fifth straight loss.
''We've been on a nice run,'' manager Mike Redmond said. ''You give all those guys in that room the credit. They've gone out there and grinded it out together and put a nice streak together. We're playing good baseball.''
Haren (3-1) gave up four hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out four.
Prado hit a three-run homer off Cole Hamels (1-3) in the second inning and added an RBI double in the sixth.
''I feel like Cole was missing a lot of spots,'' Prado said. ''He gave me a good pitch to hit and I took advantage of that.''
Prado is hitting .313 with two homers and nine RBIs in 67 at-bats against Hamels, who is 9-15 lifetime vs. the Marlins.
''Maybe not throw it right down the middle, but you understand the count and (Giancarlo Stanton) is hitting behind him,'' Hamels said on his approach to Prado.
''I was just trying to get strikes when I need to and I wasn't able to get the strikes early. You put yourself into a corner and try to make a pitch. It was in a position where he could launch it out of the yard,'' he said.
Miami second baseman Dee Gordon, who leads the major leagues with a .440 batting average, recorded his sixth consecutive multihit game. He went 3 for 3 with two walks, scored three times and stole two bases.
''He's locked in,'' Redmond said. ''He's doing everything. He's getting big hits, driving in runs, playing great defense. That play he made over his shoulder in shallow center field was good as I've seen in a long time.''
''He's as advertised. He's the guy that we knew we were getting when we traded for him and it's fun to see him going out there and just being himself and I think that's been for him to go out and play his game and I think we're seeing the results,'' he said.
Hamels said: ''You don't want to put down any player, but I think he's a little bit better than Jose Reyes was in his prime just because he's incredibly fast.''
Gordon also took away a hit away from Carlos Ruiz with an over-the-shoulder catch running into shallow center field.
''That's my favorite play other than trying to throw someone out at home on a relay,'' Gordon said.
Gordon is batting .512 (21 for 41) in the Marlins' recent 10-game surge.
''Obviously he's probably going to slow down at some point, but we're just riding him while he's hot,'' Haren said.
J.T. Realmuto drove in two runs and Stanton added a sacrifice fly.
Hamels allowed six runs and 10 hits in six innings.
''He was frustrated tonight throughout on certain pitches,'' Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said.
Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins was called out on a bizarre play in the second.
Suzuki was on first base when Adeiny Hechavarria hit a bloop single to right field. Suzuki ran to second, touched the base, and then retreated a few steps back to first in case the ball was caught.
When the ball dropped in, Suzuki darted to third. The Phillies appealed the play and he was called out for not retouching second base on his way to third.
Redmond came out to discuss the call with second base umpire Clint Fagan, but was not able use his instant replay challenge after a failed try in the first on a play at the plate.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Marlins: LF Christian Yelich (lower back strain) will begin a rehab assignment with Single-A Jupiter on Sunday. He plans on to also play there on Monday and Tuesday with hopes of re-joining the Marlins in San Francisco on Thursday. ... RHP Henderson Alvarez (right shoulder inflammation) and RHP Mat Latos (hamstring) threw bullpen sessions. Alvarez has targeted May 17 as a possible return date while Latos is hoping to make his scheduled start on Tuesday at Washington.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Severino Gonzalez (0-1, 23.63 ERA) will make the second start of his career on Sunday against the Marlins after a shaky debut, allowing seven runs in 2 2-3 innings in a loss to St. Louis.
Marlins: RHP Jarred Cosart (1-1, 2.49) returns to the mound after a strong outing against the Mets in which he threw eight scoreless innings of two-hit ball.