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The Miami Marlins have been winning games via the one-run method for much of the second half of the season. The Fish have 10 one-run wins out of the team's 17 wins in the second half of the season, which explains why their run differential is so poor; they have been outscored by 14 runs despite having a winning record.
That is why today's 10-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks is such a sweet one for this team. Miami's struggling offense finally broke out in a big way, and it was no surprise that it was led by the team's two best hitters. Christian Yelich tallied three hits and scored two runs, and Giancarlo Stanton had two hits, including a three-run home run, and four RBIs to lead the way for Miami.
After a rough opening inning by Tom Koehler that finished with no runs, Miami had little difficulty delivering first. Yelich doubled, Jeff Baker walked, and Stanton delivered a no-doubter out to the Clevelander for his 32nd home run of the year. Two batters later, Garrett Jones delivered his own solo home run to the Marlins pen in right field. The four-run shot gave us the early lead, and the Marlins never relinquished it. Indeed, it never came close.
The Fish broke it wide open after the lead was cut to 5-2. In the seventh inning against Randall Delgado, Yelich singled again and advanced to second on an error. He then stole third base before Stanton ripped a hard-hit single through the drawn-in infield for an RBI hit. Casey McGehee and Garrett Jones walked to load the bases, and then Marcell Ozuna broke into it with a double into the gap that scored two runs. Jarrod Saltalamacchia got into the act with a two-RBI single right after that, making it a 10-2 contest.
Koehler held his own after a shaky first inning in which he loaded the bases but struck out two to get out of it. At the end of the day, he finished with seven strikeouts in six innings with only two walks and two runs allowed. A successful outing for Koehler led to his ninth pitcher win of the season.
Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 19.296
Hero of the Game: Giancarlo Stanton (0.200 WPA)
Goat of the Game: No one
Play of the Game: Giancarlo Stanton homered in the first inning. Christian Yelich scored. (+0.194 WPA)