Giancarlo Stanton blasts 41st homer, Marlins defeat Rockies 4-3

In what's becoming a regular occurrence, the Marlins were carried by Giancarlo Stanton on the way to a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies Saturday night. In the fourth inning, Stanton blasted a 463-foot home run, which brought in three runs and gave the Marlins the lead for good.

Stanton has now hit 41 homers this season and needs one more to tie Gary Sheffield's franchise record for most home runs in a season. That was Stanton's 100th home run at Marlins Park, and he's now homered in eight of his last nine games. The slugger also finished just a triple shy of the cycle.

Colorado took the lead early in the game when Mark Reynolds singled home Charlie Blackmon in the first inning. Miami would quickly tie the game when Stanton scored on a Marcell Ozuna RBI groundout. Once Stanton did his damage, Colorado would never come back, but they did make it close.

DJ LeMahieu cut the lead to 4-2 thanks to a sacrifice fly, and in the eighth, Carlos Gonzalez drove home a run thanks to a groundout. The Rockies had two runners on in the ninth, but Brad Ziegler prevented any further damage to get the save. Ziegler recorded his fourth save of the season for the Marlins.

Justin Nicolino was solid in his return to the majors, allowing one run on six hits in 5.1 innings. The bullpen did its job, allowing only one run to preserve the lead for the Marlins. Jeff Hoffman got the start for Colorado, and he allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings.

Blackmon was a force for the Rockies, going 4-for-5 with four singles and two runs scored. Colorado's other star, Nolan Arenado, was thrown out after throwing his bat in response to being called out after a check swing.

The Marlins have won the first two games in this series, and they'll look to sweep the Rockies Sunday. German Marquez will start for the Rockies, while Vance Worley will be on the mound for the Marlins.

Fangraphs

Kingfish: Giancarlo Stanton (.397)

Flounder: Gerardo Parra (-.275)

Play of the game: Giancarlo Stanton homered, Dee Gordon and Miguel Rojas scored (.289)