Turner, short-handed Phillies rally past Marlins for 7-6 win

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alec Bohm homered, Trea Turner hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh inning and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 7-6 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday.

Nick Castellanos doubled, had two singles and drove in three runs for the Phillies, who upped their MLB-best record to 55-29. Philadelphia played its third straight game without injured All-Star Bryce Harper.

Bryan De La Cruz homered for Miami, which trails the Phillies by 25 games in the NL East.

Philadelphia went in front in the seventh. Andrew Nardi (1-1) walked the first two batters, and they advanced on Rafael Marchán’s sacrifice bunt. Nardi got Bryson Stott to fly out to shallow right field for the second out and then was relieved by Anthony Bender. Turner then sent the Phillies in front with a liner into left field that emptied the bases.

Seranthony Dominguez (3-2) tossed a scoreless seventh, and Jeff Hoffman finished it for his sixth save.

The Phillies won despite making five errors.

The Marlins pounded out 11 hits, including six for extra bases. They led 6-2 after Dane Myers’ RBI double and Emmanuel Rivera’s RBI single in the top of the fifth inning.

The Phillies overcame Ranger Suárez’s worst outing of the season. The lefty entered leading the NL in ERA and tied for the most wins in baseball, but he allowed season highs for earned runs (six) and hits (nine) in just 4⅔ innings. He failed to strike out a batter for the first time in his career as a starter. Suárez’s ERA rose from 1.83 to 2.27.

Philadelphia avoided its first series loss at home since early April when it lost four of six to the Braves and Reds to start the season. Philadelphia hasn’t lost any of its 13 home series since dropping two of three to the Reds from April 1-3.

Harper and slugger Kyle Schwarber watched again after both were injured late in Thursday’s game. Both were placed on the 10-day injured list on Friday with a left hamstring strain and left groin strain, respectively. The Phillies also are missing catcher J.T. Realmuto, who is sidelined after having knee surgery.

Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson wasn't panicking in spite of missing three key starters.

“Don’t try to do too much,” Thomson said before the game. “I trust them and believe in them.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: Harper, Schwarber and Realmuto continued to rehabilitate on Sunday. Harper and Schwarber could return before the All-Star break while Realmuto likely won’t be back until after the break, Thomson said. “If they’re healthy and we won’t be putting them at further risk, they’ll play,” Thomson said. “We’re not going to rush.”

UP NEXT

Marlins: After a day off, Miami begins a six-game homestand with three games against the Red Sox. Right-hander Valente Bellozo (0-0, 0.00) makes his second career start for the Marlins in the opener on Tuesday night against Boston right-hander Kutter Crawford (3-7, 3.59).

Phillies: Philadelphia right-hander Michael Mercado (0-0, 0.00) makes his first career start on Tuesday night at the Chicago Cubs to start a six-game road trip. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski (2-4, 3.60) goes for the Cubs.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Miami Marlins' Emmanuel Rivera reacts after hitting a run-scoring double against Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Miami Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm catches a line out by Philadelphia Phillies' Bryson Stott during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Miami Marlins' Jazz Chisholm hits a run-scoring single against Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Miami Marlins left fielder Bryan De La Cruz cannot hang on to a run-scoring double by Philadelphia Phillies' Nick Castellanos during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Trea Turner, right, is dunked by Bryson Stott after the Phillies won a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Trea Turner, center, is dunked by Bryson Stott, left, and Brandon Marsh after the Phillies won a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Jeff Hoffman, left, and Rafael Marchan celebrate after the Phillies won a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Trea Turner, right, is dunked by Bryson Stott after the Phillies won a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla's global sales fell for the second straight quarter despite price cuts and low-interest financing offers, another sign of weakening demand for the company's products and electric vehicles overall.

The Austin, Texas, company said Tuesday that it sold 443,956 vehicles from April through June, down 4.8% from 466,140 sold the same period a year ago. But the sales were better than the 436,000 that analysts had expected.

The better-than-expected deliveries pushed Tesla's stock up more than 9% in midday trading Tuesday. The stock is down about 8% so far this year, but it has nearly erased larger losses from prior months. Tesla shares had been down more than 40% earlier in the year, but are up more than 60% since hitting a 52-week low in April.

Demand for EVs worldwide is slowing, but they're still growing for most automakers. Tesla, with an aging model lineup and relatively high average selling prices, has struggled more than other manufacturers. Still it retained the title of the world's top-selling electric vehicle maker.

For the first half of the year, Tesla sold more than 910,000 vehicles worldwide, handily beating China's BYD, which sold 726,153.

Tesla also sold over 33,000 more vehicles during the second quarter than it produced, which should reduce the company's inventory on hand at its stores.

Tesla's sales decline comes as competition is increasing from legacy and startup automakers, which are trying to nibble away at the company's market share. Most other automakers will report U.S. sales figures later Tuesday.

Tesla gave no explanation for the sales decline, which is a harbinger of what to expect when it posts second-quarter earnings on July 23.

Nearly all of Tesla’s sales came from the smaller and less-expensive Models 3 and Y, with the company selling only 21,551 of its more expensive models that include X and S, as well as the new Cybertruck.

The sales decline came despite Tesla knocking $2,000 off the prices of three of its five models in the United States in April. The company cut the prices of the Model Y, Tesla’s most popular model and the top-selling electric vehicle in the U.S., and also of the Models X and S.

The April cuts reduced the starting price for a Model Y to $42,990 and to $72,990 for a Model S and $77,990 for a Model X. Last week, Tesla lopped $2,340 off the $38,990 base price of some newly revamped Model 3s that were in the inventory shipped to its stores.

In addition, Tesla in May offered 0.99% financing for up to six years on the Model Y. In June, it offered interest as low as 1.99% for three years on the rear-wheel-drive Model 3. Typical new-vehicle interest rates average just over 7%, according to Edmunds.com.

Also during the quarter, Tesla knocked roughly a third off the price of its “Full Self Driving” system — which can’t drive itself and so drivers must remain alert and be ready to intervene — to $8,000 from $12,000, according to the company website.

Jessica Caldwell, head of insights for Edmunds.com, said Tesla is having trouble in a market where most early adopters already have EVs, and mainstream buyers are more skeptical that electric cars can meet their needs.

Tesla's “haphazard” price cuts don't work as well as they once did because consumers now expect them, she said. “We’ve seen the automaker exhaust its bag of tricks by lowering prices and increasing incentives to spur demand without much success in the U.S. market,” Caldwell said.

Also, Tesla's aging model lineup doesn’t look much different than it did years ago she said. And with price cuts, used Tesla prices tumbled. Anyone wanting a Tesla can get a far better deal buying a used one, Caldwell said.

Caldwell doesn’t see any big catalyst this year that would boost Tesla sales unless gasoline prices spike, and she said Musk's shift to the right since taking over Twitter has hurt the brand's image.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to investors Tuesday that second-quarter sales were a “huge comeback performance” for Tesla. “In a nutshell, the worst is in the rearview mirror for Tesla,” he wrote. The company, he wrote, cut 10% to 15% of its workforce to reduce costs and preserve profitability. “It appears better days are now ahead as the growth story returns,” Ives wrote.

In its letter to investors in January, Tesla predicted “notably lower” sales growth this year. The letter said Tesla is between two big growth waves, one from global expansion of the Models 3 and Y, and a second coming from the Model 2, a new, smaller and less expensive vehicle with an unknown release date.

Tesla is scheduled to unveil a purpose built robotaxi at an event on Aug. 8.

This story has been corrected to fix Tesla's second quarter sales number. The company sold 443,956 vehicles from April through June.

Tesla vehicles are stored at a shopping mall parking lot near a closed movie theater Friday, June 21, 2024, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

FILE - Unsold 2023 Model X sports-utility vehicles sit at a Tesla dealership, June 18, 2023, in Littleton, Colo. Tesla, the top selling electric vehicle maker in the world, is expected to report a second straight quarter of declining deliveries on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)