Phillies Notes: Phils' Sweeney has a big fan in Dee Gordon

MIAMI - The day after he made his first major-league hit a pinch-hit home run, Darnell Sweeney started his first big-league game.

The Phillies' newest position player manned center field and batted sixth in the team's 2-0 win against the Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon. He did not manage a hit, but drew walks in three of his four plate appearances in the finale of the four-game series at Marlins Park.

The start capped a memorable first weekend for Sweeney, whose first series as a big-leaguer came about a 20-minute drive from his childhood home in Hollywood, Fla. It also was against one of his good friends in Dee Gordon, the Marlins' two-time all-star second baseman whose .335 batting average is the best in baseball.

Gordon, 27, and Sweeney, 24, both came up in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

They work out together in the offseason in Orlando, the city where Sweeney attended college at Central Florida.

Sweeney's first action in center field on Sunday came on a Gordon fly out. On Thursday night, his first major-league at-bat resulted in a pop out to Gordon.

"I was laughing the whole time, like, 'I got you. Don't hit it to me,' " Gordon said. "And then he put one 500 feet to left-center" Saturday night.

Not quite 500, but Sweeney's first homer traveled an estimated 445 feet. The switch-hitting Sweeney has "some sneaky pop," Gordon said.

The son of former Phillies pitcher Tom Gordon said he thinks second base is probably Sweeney's best position.

"He's a great dude. He's one of my best friends in the game," Gordon said. "He's going to be a really good player once he gets his chance."

Cameron Rupp has caught 13 of 36 would-be base stealers this season, including two Marlins on Sunday. . . . Odubel Herrera was out of the Phillies' lineup for the first time since July 29, but hit a ninth-inning single when pinch-hitting for starter Aaron Nola. Herrera is hitting .294 through 371 at-bats. . . . Andres Blanco doubled in the third inning and singled in the seventh, giving him 10 hits - including four doubles and two home runs - in his last 24 at-bats.

- Jake Kaplan