Brandon Marsh hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly and Nick Castellanos hit a two-run double in the top of the ninth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies held on for a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Bryce Harper doubled and scored for Philadelphia, which evened the series at one victory apiece with the rubber match set for Wednesday afternoon. The Phillies notched their 10th shutout of the season.
Minnesota managed just three hits, including one for extra bases.
Phillies left-hander Gregory Soto (2-3) recorded one out and received the victory. He was one of three relievers to follow starter Zack Wheeler, who fired seven scoreless innings and struck out seven.
Twins right-hander Jhoan Duran (5-5) gave up three runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning. His struggles spoiled a fine performance by three other Twins pitchers who combined for eight scoreless innings, including six from starter Simeon Woods Richardson.
Phillies left-hander Matt Strahm pitched a scoreless ninth to record his first save of the season and the seventh save of his career.
The game was scoreless in the ninth when Harper hit an opposite-field double with one out. Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto followed with back-to-back walks to load the bases.
Marsh made it 1-0 when he hit a sacrifice fly to left-center field to drive in Harper. Moments later, Castellanos doubled to right to drive in Bohm and Realmuto.
The Twins also had a bases-loaded opportunity in the late innings but could not capitalize. Christian Vazquez, Trevor Larnach and Max Kepler each drew walks to load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli called for Ryan Jeffers to pinch hit for Edouard Julien, which gave Minnesota a right-handed batter against the southpaw Soto.
Jeffers worked the count to 3-1 but hit a ground ball to third base on the next pitch. Bohm fielded the ball and stepped on the bag at third for the inning-ending forceout.
–Field Level Media
