PHILADELPHIA -- Limited by a pitch count in the transition from relief work to a starting role, Miami Marlins right-hander David Phelps still managed to throw seven scoreless innings for the first time in his major league career.

The Marlins used two four-run innings to back Phelps, claiming a 9-1 win over the Phillies on Thursday afternoon in the final game of the series.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Marlins.

"The key is our pitching and when we're able to get deeper into games, it takes pressure off everybody," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "It takes pressure off the offense, it takes pressure off the bullpen. He pitched great."

Phelps, who came out of the bullpen in his first two appearances of the season, was making just his second start of the year after not going beyond the fifth inning against the New York Mets on April 17. But he pitched perhaps the best game of his career against the Phillies, striking out five and walking two to improve to 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA.

After both teams went scoreless in the first three innings, Miami (5-11) broke it open with four runs each in the fourth and sixth innings to cruise to its biggest victory margin of the season.

"It's huge," Phelps said of getting the run support. "Just knowing that I don't have a full pitch count yet, it lets me relax a little bit and go out and attack a little bit more."

The Marlins ended Phillies starter Dustin McGowan's short afternoon with a one-out, two-run single by shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria in the fourth and tacked on two runs later in the inning on a single by third baseman Martin Prado.

In a battle of relievers-turned-starters, McGowan took the loss in his first start of the season. Filling in for Sean O'Sullivan, who was placed on the 15-day DL with left knee tendinitis on Wednesday, he gave up four runs (all earned) in 3 1/3 innings, raising his ERA from 2.57 to 5.23.

"(McGowan) still had his stuff, but he was missing up in the zone in the fourth," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "He did a pretty nice job up until that point."

Miami added four runs in the sixth inning, getting a two-run homer from Giancarlo Stanton on the back of a two-run double from Prado, both off Phillies reliever Justin DeFratus.

Prado did a lot of damage for a Miami offense that collected 12 hits, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs to improve his average to .300, but he had plenty of help. Hechavarria went 4-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs, and center fielder Marcell Ozuna was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.

"We need big at-bats, we need big hits in big situations," Redmond said. "We knew they were going to come; it's just a matter of when. That's why you have veterans on your team because you know in crunch time those guys come through."

While the Marlins' bats were working just fine on a cold, windy April afternoon, it was another long day for Philadelphia's offense.

The Phillies (5-11) entered the game with the lowest batting average (.211), fewest runs scored (40) and fewest runs per game (2.67) in the majors. None of those numbers improved much after collecting eight hits and one run against Miami.

"We just need some bats to get hot," Sandberg said. "And we need to get hot two or three guys at a time, as a group, and also execute and do things right on the offensive side of things when we get opportunities."

The Phillies finally got on the board in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly from second baseman Cesar Hernandez.

NOTES: This was the 10th of 22 games that Miami will play against National League East opponents. The Marlins open with 25 of 28 against division rivals. ... Marlins OF Ichiro Suzuki has 1,966 career runs scored through his combined time in MLB and the Japanese pro league. The record for a Japanese player is Sadaharu Oh, who scored 1,967 runs