Brandon Marsh’s big day leads way for Phillies in rare Texas win over Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas — Brandon Marsh bit on a first-pitch changeup from Rangers starter Merrill Kelly that was well below the zone, fouling it out of play.

He watched the next two pitches go by — a cutter up and outside, and a curveball on the outside edge of the plate — to fall behind in the count, 1-2, before he got another changeup. This time, it was in the zone, and this time, he got all of it.

As the ball carried over the railing in right field just inside the foul pole, it clocked an exit velocity of 109.3 mph. Marsh’s seventh home run of the season opened a three-run fourth inning that helped propel the Phillies to a 9-1 win over Texas.

Marsh finished 4-for-5, a triple shy of the cycle. Three of his hits came in two-strike counts.

“I think [I’m] just being able to default back to a B-swing, when you fall behind,” Marsh said. “And just being short and just shorting through the ball. Really just trying to stay simple, simple, simple.”

It marked the Phillies’ first-ever win at Globe Life Field since it opened in 2020, and their first win in Arlington since 2014.

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When Kelly’s pitch count started to tick up in the fifth, the Rangers brought in left-handed reliever Robert Garcia to face Marsh. He hit a bloop to shallow right that deflected off of right fielder Adolis García, allowing him to sail into second for his second double of the game.

“Them bringing in Garcia early like that was a little shock, but you know that they’re going to their guy to try to get out of the situation, to keep them in the game. I totally understand it,” Marsh said. “I do treat it as like a little challenge. But the more I do that, the more I press. So I just got to just stay relaxed and just treat it like any other one.”

Trea Turner also had a big night with five RBIs, and broke the game open in the ninth inning with a three-run home run. Closer Jhoan Duran had been warming up to help the Phillies protect what was then a 4-1 lead, before an RBI double from Bryson Stott and Turner’s big swing made him sit back down.

“We talked about that power a lot in the first half, and it’s starting to come out, up and down the lineup, not just one person,” Turner said. “And I think that makes a big difference.”

Cristopher Sánchez put up a quality start for the Phillies, allowing one run over six innings, but he grinded through his outing.

The Rangers put a lot of pitches on him early, driving his pitch count up to 25 after the first inning and 38 after the second. Three singles in the first scored the Rangers’ only run of the game. It also erased the early lead Kyle Schwarber had given the Phillies with his 41st home run of the season, which leads the National League.

“Just staying calm and staying focused through that situation, I think that’s one of the keys that got me through it today,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter.

After Marsh put the Phillies back in front, 2-1, in the fourth, Turner gave them some insurance. Otto Kemp and Stott both drew walks from Kelly, before Turner roped a bases-clearing double into the left field corner.

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Sánchez escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. He allowed two singles and a walk, and Jordan Romano began warming in the bullpen, but Sánchez got Wyatt Langford to fly out to strand the runners. He returned for the sixth, and sidestepped a double from Jake Burger to post a scoreless frame.

“I think we’ve put a lot of innings on [Sánchez] the last couple of starts,” said manager Rob Thomson. “So I think he was up a little bit today and just didn’t have the finish to his pitches that he normally does. But he grinded and battled through some adversity and got through it.”

Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering tossed a scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Max Lazar shut the door in the ninth.