MIAMI — The Phillies don’t get much respect, certainly not from the best home run slugger in the National League.
The Phillies defeated the Miami Marlins, 10-3, on Wednesday afternoon at Marlins Park (see Instant Replay). The Phillies set a season high with 20 hits and took just their third road series of the season.
Seven Phillies hitters had multiple hits. Leftfielder Daniel Nava went 4 for 5 with two RBIs. And rookie rightfielder Nick Williams continued to rake, producing the first two triples of his career.
“It was a lot of fun,” Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph, who went 3 for 6, said. “Double-digit runs, 20 hits — that’s good for every offensive player here.”
Marlins rightfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who went deep again and tied Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees for the major-league home run lead with 30, was clearly frustrated that his team dropped two of three games to the 32-61 Phillies.
“If you can’t win a series against the worst team in the league, then there’s not much going for you,” Stanton said after his Marlins dropped to 42-51.
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Stanton hit four homers in this series, three of them that went longer than 435 feet. But the Phillies were able to neutralize most of the rest of the Miami lineup.
“If [my homers] aren’t enough to help us win, then personal stuff doesn’t matter,” Stanton said. “I’ve had enough personal stuff. If we don’t win, it’s not that fun.”
One series is not enough to totally change a team’s outlook, but the Phillies leave Miami feeling encouraged.
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said third baseman Maikel Franco changed his approach this week, starting with batting practice before Tuesday’s game, leveling off his swing.
The results, in two subsequent games, were impressive as Franco went 5 for 9 with two doubles, one game-winning homer and four RBIs.
“I’m real excited about Franco’s approach,” Mackanin said. “The past couple days, he has really got a great swing. You can see the results he got today. I think he will stick with it. I foresee a big second half for him.”
The Phillies' surge this weekend coincided with the return of leadoff batter Cesar Hernandez.
Mackanin compared Hernandez’s impact on his team to what Matt Kemp did for the Atlanta Braves last year.
“It’s nice to have a prototypical leadoff hitter,” Mackanin said of Hernandez, who went 3 for 6 on Wednesday. “If you insert one hitter in a lineup, it can change the whole complexion.”
Williams, inserted into the three-hole of the batting order on Tuesday and kept there on Wednesday, is also making an impact.
He has 11 RBIs in his past six games. He has four consecutive multi-hit games, and he hit .440 on this road trip.
In addition, he is the first Phillies rookie to hit two triples in a game since Jimmy Rollins in 2001.
Mackanin said he didn’t want to say much more about Williams, who has received hype of late.
“I don’t want to jinx it,” Mackanin said.
Williams, meanwhile, comes across as very humble and quiet.
He said after Wednesday’s game that hitting third is not even something he was doing in the minors this season.
Getting mentioned in the same sentence with Rollins left Williams nearly at a loss for words.
“He’s a legend,” Williams said of Rollins. “He’s an amazing player. … That’s awesome. It’s crazy.”
The same can be said about the turnaround by the Phillies' offense this week, much to the disgust of Giancarlo Stanton.