By Sam Bush
Luis Arraez became the first Miami Marlins player to hit for the cycle in an 8-4 victory over the Phillies.
Arraez won the American League batting title with a .316 average as a member of the Minnesota Twins in 2022 before being traded to the Marlins in a four-player deal on Jan. 20. He’s 22 for 41 (.537) in 12 games to start the 2023 season. That is the highest batting average for any player through the first 12 games of a season since Frank Cattalanato hit .600 in 2000.
Aaron Nola (0-2) was shaky for most of the night for the Phillies, allowing four earned runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings while catching too much of the plate with his fastball. Nola’s ERA in his first three starts is 7.04.
“We thought his stuff was still good and we wanted to get him through the (sixth) inning,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
“But then his pitch count got inflated and we had to go get him.”
Kyle Schwarber homered for Philadelphia, while Bryson Stott went 2-for-4 with two RBI to extend his season-opening hitting streak to 11 games. Nick Castellanos and Josh Harrison also had multi-hit games.
