MIAMI - Despite an overall woeful season, Jerome Williams went into his 20th start of the year having allowed just a run in each of his previous three starts.
That positive trend dissipated quickly on Thursday night at Marlins Park. The journeyman righthander was tagged for a season-worst eight runs and didn't survive the second inning of the Phillies' 9-7 loss, the opener of a four-game series that could have big implications on which team picks first in the draft next June.
"Everything snowballed," Williams said. "I wasn't throwing the ball where I wanted to."
The Marlins, only three games ahead of the last-place Phillies in the standings, scored four times in each of the first two innings on Thursday.