Mick Abel gets out of early jam in Phillies' series-opening win vs. Marlins

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jun 16, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MIAMI — Mick Abel’s fastball to Liam Hicks just clipped the bottom of the strike zone.

If the automatic ball-strike system the Phillies had experimented with in spring training was in use on Monday in Miami, Hicks would have been out and the second inning would have been over with a runner stranded at third base. But the home plate umpire ruled it ball four.

On the next at-bat, the Marlins tied up the game, 1-1, with an RBI single. Then, Abel hit the following batter to load the bases. Things seemed like they were about to spiral for the 23-year-old right-hander, in his fourth major league start.

But a lineout from Xavier Edwards got Abel out of the jam, and then he retired nine straight Marlins. And that run was the only one he allowed over five innings in the 5-2 win over Miami.

Home runs from Trea Turner and Max Kepler — his third in six games — helped power the Phillies to their fifth straight win.

Turner pounced on Miami starter Sandy Alcantara early, sending his second pitch of the game 406 feet. Alcantara held the Phillies to five hits, but long at-bats drove his pitch count up to 100 after the fifth, chasing him from the game.

Turner helped add an insurance run in the seventh. Brandon Marsh tripled to the right-field corner, and then scored when Turner punched a line drive single to left field.

Abel gave up some hard contact but showed composure. He walked off the mound in the second with his pitch count already up to 42, but he was far more efficient through the next three innings. He was lifted from the game for Taijuan Walker after the fifth, with his pitch count at 77.

A run scored on Matt Strahm in the eighth to cut into the Phillies' lead to 3-2. Strahm allowed two singles, before a force-out put runners on the corners. Kepler, who was moved to right field after Johan Rojas entered the game as a defensive substitution for Nick Castellanos, made a long run to snag a foul ball, but he stumbled while making the grab.

Edwards tagged at third and Kepler’s throw wasn’t in time, making it a one-run game.

Alec Bohm gave the Phillies back a few runs with a two-RBI single in the ninth. Orion Kerkering pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame, earning his first career save.