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Cody Asche powers Philadelphia Phillies past Miami Marlins

By Walter Villa, The Sports Xchange
Philadelphia Phillies' Cody Asche and Aaron Harang. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Philadelphia Phillies' Cody Asche and Aaron Harang. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

MIAMI -- With four homers in the past eight games -- including two in a 6-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night -- Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Cody Asche must be feeling pretty lucky.

"Today was his day -- I told (Asche) to go buy me some lottery tickets," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.

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Asche, who has 11 homers this season, pulled an upper-deck shot to right in the fourth inning. In the eighth, he pulled another shot to right for the first two-homer game of his career.

"I'm seeing the ball well and putting good swings on pitches I need to be putting good swings on," Asche said. "When you get a pitch to drive, it's important to drive it at this level.

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"That's when you get yourself in trouble in an at-bat -- when you get that one or two pitches (to hit) and you miss. Then you're really going to have to battle. Lately, I've been able to capitalize on those pitches."'

As for the "lottery tickets" comment by Mackanin, Asche laughed and made note that his manager had the interim tag removed from his title earlier in the day.

"That's Pete for you to a T -- he always has the right thing to say to make you laugh," Asche said. "He might have changed ever since he became a manager, putting bounties out for homers."

Asche added that he was "completely joking" about the bounty comment, but he and his manager weren't the only ones feeling good after the Phillies (57-94) snapped a six-game losing streak by winning at Marlins Park.

Right-hander Aaron Harang (6-15) earned his first win since July 30. He allowed seven hits, two walks and two runs in seven innings, shutting down the Marlins (64-87) in a battle between two of the worst teams in baseball.

Half of Harang's wins this year have come against the Marlins (once) and Atlanta Braves (twice), two teams way under .500.

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Miami hit into four double plays, including three while Harang was on the mound. Phillies relievers Dalier Hinojosa and Kenny Giles each pitched a scoreless inning to wrap up the win.

"Kenny looked pretty sharp for a guy who hasn't pitched in eight days," Mackanin said of Giles.

Philadelphia has been bad against just about everyone else this season except Miami. The Phillies are 9-5 against the Marlins this season and 41 games under .500 against everyone else.

Miami, which lost four games in a row, was led by shortstop Miguel Rojas, who pulled a two-run homer to left in the seventh, thwarting Harang's attempt at a shutout.

Marlins starter Tom Koehler (10-14) took the loss, allowing seven hits, three walks and four runs, three earned.

"It's not what we've seen of him in the past," Marlins manager Dan Jennings said of Koehler's disappointing outing. "He never got in sync. He could never find his release point. He never really looked sharp."

Philadelphia opened the scoring with an unearned run in the first. Left fielder Aaron Altherr hit a one-out double, stole third and scored when the throw from catcher J.T. Realmuto got past Rojas for an error.

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The Phillies made it 3-0 in the second on the strength of shortstop Freddy Galvis' two-run single to center on an 0-2 pitch. That scored second baseman Andres Blanco, who drew a leadoff walk, and Asche, who had a one-out single.

Philadelphia's last three runs came on homers -- two by Asche and one by first baseman Darin Ruf, who added a solo blast in the seventh. It was his ninth homer of the season.

Jennings said the four double plays crushed his team, including one in the third inning that killed a bases-loaded opportunity. Harang got first baseman Justin Bour on a dribbler in front of the plate on that one.

"Anytime we had something potentially going, we hit into a double play," Jennings said. "The double plays -- we fell victim to (that) tonight."

NOTES: The Phillies removed the interim tag and extended manager Pete Mackanin's contract through the 2016 season. Mackanin, 64, had been named interim manager on June 26, after Ryne Sandberg resigned. ... Phillies 1B Ryan Howard (knee) and 3B Maikel Franco (wrist) are not expected to return this season. Howard has been out since Sept. 14. Franco has been out since Aug. 11. ... Marlins RHP Jose Fernandez will make his final home start of the year on Friday against the Atlanta Braves. Fernandez is 16-0 with a 1.11 ERA in his career at home. ... Marlins 3B Martin Prado (wrist) and SS Adeiny Hechavarria (hamstring) remain out of the lineup, replaced by 3B Donovan Solano and SS Miguel Rojas. Prado has missed four straight games. Hechavarria has been out since Sept. 2. ... Philadelphia is in the midst of a 15-game, season-ending streak of consecutive games against NL East opponents.

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