So here’s a name you probably didn’t have circled on your bingo card: Javier Sanoja.
The 22-year-old rookie, starting only because Griffin Conine was banged up, ended his Sunday afternoon as the unexpected hero in the latest installment of What Just Happened? at Citizens Bank Park. All Sanoja did was blast his first big league homer — a go-ahead three-run shot in the eighth — collect his first three-hit game, and drive in five runs to lead the Marlins to a 7-5, 10-inning win over the Phillies.
Oh, and by the way: before Sunday, he’d never driven in more than two runs in any professional game. Minor leagues included.
The moment? That came in the eighth inning. The Phillies were clinging to a 4-2 lead when Sanoja jumped all over a 1-1 sweeper from Orion Kerkering and sent it into the left-field seats, flipping the game upside down and stunning the South Philly crowd.
But Sanoja wasn’t done. He hit a sacrifice fly in the second, reached on an error by Bryson Stott and scored in the seventh, then capped his breakout with a run-scoring single in the 10th that gave Miami the lead for good.
Kyle Stowers added a sacrifice fly later in the inning, but the day belonged to Sanoja — who began the season at Triple-A Jacksonville and entered the day with one career RBI.
The Phillies? Well, they had their chances. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first behind a two-run double from Bryce Harper and an RBI single from Nick Castellanos. Cal Stevenson and Rafael Marchán chipped in run-scoring singles of their own, but the offense cooled at the wrong time.
And just when it looked like they might walk it off in the ninth — two on, one out — Calvin Faucher calmly induced a pop-up from Kyle Schwarber, then a lazy flyout from Castellanos to end the threat. He picked up his first win. Somewhere, the win stat blinked in disbelief.
Jesús Tinoco worked a 1-2-3 10th to earn his first big league save.
But the real story? It’s the Phillies’ bullpen. Again.
Kerkering’s homer to Sanoja was the big one — the first long ball the rookie has allowed this season — but Matt Strahm followed with two runs allowed (one earned) in the 10th, and suddenly the Phillies were staring at another one that got away.
Philadelphia’s bullpen ERA now sits at 5.81 — second-worst in the Majors, trailing only the last-place Nationals. And Sunday marked blown save No. 6, the most in baseball.
It’s early, yes. But in a division race where every win might matter come September, these are the kinds of games that tend to leave a mark.
Up Next:
The Phillies hit the road for a six-game trip, starting Monday night in Queens. Aaron Nola (0-4, 6.65 ERA), still searching for his first win of the year, gets the ball against the Mets and Tylor Megill (2-2, 1.40) — who’s quietly allowed fewer earned runs all season than Nola gave up on Opening Week.
