Philadelphia Phillies vs Miami Marlins Match Player Stats On Jul 14, 2018

All-Star right-hander Aaron Nola took a rare loss as the last-place Miami Marlins surprised the first-place Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at Marlins Park.

The Marlins, held to just four hits, were led on offense by third baseman Martin Prado, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI.

Nola (12-3), who will appear on his first All-Star roster on Tuesday, allowed four hits, one walk and two runs in six innings, striking out five.

He was outdueled by Marlins rookie right-hander Trevor Richards (3-5), who allowed four hits, two walks and no runs in six innings, striking out four.

Richards, who pitched for NCAA Division II Drury University, went undrafted and played independent baseball until signing with the Marlins in July of 2016. He made his major league debut this April and has already beaten Nola and also struck out 10 Los Angeles Dodgers when matched up against three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.

Once Richards was removed from Saturday's game after having thrown 98 pitches, the Marlins went to the bullpen, getting one scoreless inning each from Brad Ziegler, Drew Steckenrider and Kyle Barraclough (ninth save).

Miami scored the game's only runs in the first, loading the bases with no outs on singles by Derek Dietrich and Brian Anderson and a walk to J.T. Realmuto. Miami cashed in with an RBI groundout by Starlin Castro and a run-scoring single from Prado.

Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco made an embarrassing decision in the sixth. Castro hit a grounder down the line that was fielded by Franco, who, thinking it was foul, flipped the ball to a child near the third base dugout.

But when the ball was ruled fair, Castro, who did not immediately run out the grounder, was given second base, and Franco was assessed a two-base error. Fortunately for the Phillies, Miami did not score in the inning.

Aside from that odd play, the final few innings were rather ordinary. Phillies relievers Mark Leiter Jr. and Austin Davis held Miami scoreless in the final two innings, but the Marlins got all the offense they needed in that first frame.

--Field Level Media