In the minors, Alex McFarlane was all about saves. Now, working out of the Phillies bullpen, McFarlane won’t get opportunities for saves, but he did find himself picking up a win in Tuesday night’s 6-4 win over the Marlins.
Starter Zack Wheeler, who went five innings, was at 98 pitches and exited with the Phillies down 2-1. McFarlane came in to start the sixth and walked leadoff hitter Otto Lopez before giving up a base-hit to Griffin Conine. The next batter, Heriberto Hernandez grounded a ball to Bryson Stott at third, who threw to Luis Arraez at second to retire Conine. The throw from Arraez to Alec Bohm at first to complete the double play was low and wide and got past Bohm. Lopez scored on the play with Arraez being charged with an error.
Augustin Ramirez grounded a ball back to the mound for the second out and McFarlane got Owen Caissie to pop to short to end the inning.
The Phillies went on to score four runs in the bottom of the inning with Bohm getting an RBI double and Stott driving in two with a single. The runs made it 5-3 and put McFarlane in position to be the winning pitcher. Luis Alvarado threw a scoreless seventh inning, Orion Kerkering was charged with an unearned run. It was Kerkering’s error on a throw to first that led to the run. Brooks Raley had a clean ninth inning to record the save, his first since 2023.
A good start for the rookie
McFarlane, 25, started his MLB career with a scoreless inning against the Dodgers on July 22nd. In St. Louis he allowed an earned run and took the loss as the Cardinals beat the Phillies 2-0. Saturday night in Minnesota, McFarlane threw 1.1 innings and allowed a hit and a walk, but no runs in the Phillies win over the Twins.
In his four relief outings, McFarlane is now 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He has three walks and four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work with the Phillies.
In 36 relief appearances in the minors – 32 at Double-A Reading and four more with Triple-A Lehigh Valley – McFarlane converted 12 saves in 13 opportunities with a 1.83 ERA. He walked 20 and struck out 55 in 39.1 innings in the minors this season.
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