Marlins lose 7th straight on road

Hamels is looking to rebound from one of his poorest career outings in a 15-2 loss at San Francisco where he gave up nine runs on 12 hits in 3.1 innings.

At 42-49, losers of four-of-five games, this Red Sox team that was once creeping towards the realm of buyers has now taken a clear step in the other direction. The Phillies starter threw just 70 pitches as he scattered four hits without allowing a run.

Francoeur’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Philadelphia to an 8-7 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday.

“I just kind of ran into it”, Morgan said of the pitch he doubled into left-center in the sixth. Then with two outs, Domonic Brown slapped a clutch single for a 2-0 lead against Marlins starter Tom Koehler (7-6). The expectation is that the Phillies’ ace – and the roughly $84 million still owed him – will be dealt by that deadline, but there are two factors potentially working against that.

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Dan Haren throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, July 19, 2015, in Philadelphia. Francoeur said trade rumors could be affecting Hamels. I think he’ll be just fine. With Carl Crawford returning from the disabled list, and Andre Ethier enjoying a bounce back season, the Dodgers can afford to deal Puig. 228 against him. And previous year, again pitching for a team that was one of the worst in baseball, Hamels maintained focus and finished with a career-best 2.46 ERA.

“He’s been a special guy for us”, Philadelphia interim manager Pete Mackanin said.

Francoeur, who had entered the game in the seventh, then smashed the second pitch he saw into the leftfield stands. “He’s pitched in two World Series”.

“He’s allowed to have a couple bad starts”, Mackanin said. “He’s just in a little bit of a rut”. His next outing is scheduled for Saturday against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. It was uncharacteristic of him to waste what could be considered an offensive outburst.

Hamels, though, continued to maintain that trade speculation hasn’t sidetracked him. Even if Lee comes back at the end of this year, or next, it seems extremely unlikely the Phillies can get anything of value for him. “It is what it is”. How could it be with a team caught between eras that had played with a disinterest that could have been predicted once the team president, Pat Gillick, declared it unfit to compete for a championship before it had played one game?

Contact Meghan Montemurro at mmontemurro@delawareonline.com. And, no, he didn’t much care for Jon Papelbon’s inconsiderate growl to be traded at the All-Star Game, telling reporters that the closer should be more careful about what he says.

The shorthanded Miami Marlins (-170) open the second-half of the season with a visit to Philadelphia and a meeting with the last place Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Revere drove home a run in the third.

Yesterday, the Phillies started their annual “Christmas in July” promotion when they ask fans to bring new, unwrapped toys to be donated to the Police Athletic League and Carson Valley Children’s Aid – the toy drive, by the way, continues through the three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays that ends on Wednesday.

Spotlight player: Francoeur has been taking advantage of the playing time he has been given.