Phillies rebuilding project continues as season ends with 7-2 win over Marlins

PHILADELPHIA _ The first year of a rebuilding project that began in earnest with the December trade of Jimmy Rollins came to an end Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.tmpplchld It culminated in the Phillies’ 63rd win, by 7-2 over the Miami Marlins, as they avoided the franchise’s first 100-loss season since 1961. Their season went in the books with 99 losses, the most for a Phillies team since 1969. tmpplchld Aaron Altherr broke open the season finale with a bases-clearing triple in the seventh inning. David Buchanan closed out a struggle-filled season with a strong outing. Ken Giles pitched a scoreless ninth. tmpplchld Buchanan, who accounted for two of the Phillies’ 10 hits, allowed only one earned run over 6 2/3 innings. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out seven and walked only one. The Marlins scored their first run when Jeff Francoeur a dropped a two-out line drive.tmpplchld Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon secured the National League batting title with a three-hit afternoon. He roped a double on Buchanan’s first pitch of the game and homered in the third. At game’s end, his .333 average was .004 better than Washington’s Bryce Harper.tmpplchld Ichiro Suzuki, the future Hall of Fame outfielder, pitched the ninth inning for the Marlins, the 41-year-old’s first appearance on a major-league mound. He allowed a run on doubles by Odubel Herrera and Darnell Sweeney. Herrera’s was his team-leading 30th of the season, the most by a Phillies rookie since Scott Rolen in 1997. The Rule 5 draft pick capped his impressive campaign with a .297 batting average.tmpplchld The Phillies announced an attendance of 21,734 for the finale, bringing their season total to 1,831,080. The mark is the team’s lowest home attendance for a season since 2002 (the penultimate year at Veterans Stadium) and 592,772 fewer than last season.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 The Philadelphia Inquirertmpplchld Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.philly.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld