The Miami Marlins depended on their pitching with timely offense for most of this series against the Tampa Bay Rays. But the finale versus the Rays was an offensive attack by Miami that was barely able to keep up with the onslaught the Rays pulled out against Jacob Turner and the Marlins' bullpen. Turner went 5 1/3 innings and gave up five runs, with two homers allowed and only three strikeouts versus one walk. It was a wholly unimpressive performance for a pitcher who has struggled all season long.
But Miami's offense came to the rescue, and it started in the fourth inning. Casey McGehee and Garrett Jones singled with two outs and Marcell Ozuna delivered the first run to tie the game for the Fish. Justin Bour, in his first Major League plate appearance, hit a tapper for an infield single towards first base. Then J.T. Realmuto, in his Major League debut, lined a single to bring home Jones and Ozuna and give Miami an early 3-1 lead.
When the Rays responded with two solo home runs in the fifth, Miami returned in the sixth with more firepower. McGehee and Jones started things off again with a double and a single, leading to Ozuna's second RBI base hit of the day. Realmuto drove in another run with a single, and Adeiny Hechavarria got a run in on a ground out.
The Rays bounced back with two more runs to bring it to 6-5, but then the power bats arrived. Donovan Solano singled and led to another mammoth Giancarlo Stanton home run. Later on, Bour singled in a run for his first career RBI as well.
With the Marlins reaching the tail end of the game, Ozuna added even further with another two-run home run to cap off an 11-6 win and a Citrus Series sweep of the Rays.
Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 10,442
Hero of the Game: J.T. Realmuto (0.314 WPA)
Goat of the Game: Jacob Turner (-0.327 WPA)
Play of the Game: J.T. Realmuto singled in the fourth inning. Garrett Jones and Marcell Ozuna scored. Justin Bour advanced to second base. (+0.216 WPA)