Left-handed contributions were the story of the Marlins' success in a 5-2 win versus the Pirates at home on Tuesday night.
It all started with Brad Hand's dazzling eight innings and just two runs allowed. It continued with speedster Dee Gordon scoring two runs, Justin Bour knocking in a pair, and Christian Yelich providing an RBI and two hits in his first game back from injury.
Things didn't look good for the Fish to start as they found themselves in a 1-0 hole before even getting to face the night's starter, Charlie Morton. The Bucs got their run on an RBI single laced into right field off the bat of veteran infielder Aramis Ramirez with two outs in the opening half inning.
Both pitchers looked good from that point as neither allowed the opposition to get things rolling until the fourth. In that frame, Gordon did what he does best and got himself on and into scoring position before an out had even been recorded. Two batters later, Bour ripped a ball past the outstretched arms of former teammate Michael Morse at first to tie things up at one.
The Marlins took control from that point as they tallied a run in the fifth and put up a three-run sixth to push their lead to four, chasing Morton from the game.
In the fifth, Yelich came home to score all the way from first when center fielder Andrew McCutchen mishandled a hard-hit single off the bat of J.T. Realmuto.
Gordon started things off once again in the all-important sixth when he led off with a single and again swiped second for his 43rd stolen bag of the year. He was then brought home on the first of three doubles in the inning when Martin Prado stepped up to the plate. Bour and Yelich followed with RBI two-baggers to stretch the lead to 5-1.
Hand did his part from that point as he allowed five scattered hits and zero runs all the way into the final frame. He came out to pitch the ninth, but surrendered back-to-back singles before being pulled for closer A.J. Ramos. Hand finished with a career-high eight innings, five strikeouts and no walks to his credit.
Ramos, after inheriting two base-runners, minimized the damage by surrendering one run and setting down three of the next four batters to capture his 22nd save.
Yelich looked good in his return from the DL. He reached base two times -- scoring once and knocking in another. Gordon reeked havoc on the base paths as he stole a total of three bags and scored twice in the win.
Source: FanGraphs
