Tyler Phillips tossed five solid innings and earned the win Saturday for the visiting Miami Marlins, who continued surging with a 6-2 victory over the New York Mets in the third game of a four-game series.
Liam Hicks delivered the first of his two RBI singles in the opening inning to give the Marlins a lead they’d never relinquish on their way to winning for the fifth time in six games. With the win, the Marlins remain in the thick of the National League wild-card race.
Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run home run in the second for the Mets, who fell to 7-8 since the All-Star break.
Miami’s Javier Sanoja hit a two-run homer in the second, Otto Lopez added a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Griffin Conine launched a solo blast in the sixth.
Sanoja, Conine, Hicks and Esteury Ruiz all finished with two hits while Ruiz and Heriberto Hernandez each had a stolen base.
Phillips (3-5), in his 10th start since moving into the rotation full-time June 11, gave up two runs on six hits and no walks while striking out three.
John King pitched a scoreless sixth before Lake Bachar earned his second save of the season and fifth of his career by tossing three innings of one-hit ball.
Zac Thornton (2-2) surrendered four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out two over 4 2/3 innings for the Mets. The loss snapped a four-start unbeaten stretch for Thornton, who was 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in that span.
Francisco Lindor had two hits — his second straight two-hit effort and the sixth time he’s collected at least two hits in his last 16 games, during which he’s raised his overall average from .208 to .238.
But Lindor also muffed a leadoff grounder by Lopez in the first, which led to Hicks’ RBI single and an unearned run charged to Thornton.
