The Marlins collapse in the ninth, 6-5 Blue Jays

Now tell me if you have heard this one before, the Marlins lose in heartbreaking fashion with another meltdown. Yup it’s one of those games, again. This time the destruction occurred in the ninth inning, which ultimately put the Fish to rest.

Now let me just say Dan Straily was incredible. He had control, his secondary pitches were buzzing and he ran through the Blue Jays like it was nothing. I recapped his last start which was against Atlanta, in that game he went six innings giving up no runs. I would argue Straily was much stronger in tonights game even though he did give up a run.

Eight innings pitched for a starter on the Marlins rarely happens. Straily was working the plate well, keeping hitters off balance. Now if only he could of went 9 innings, sadly the Fish’s bullpen could not get three outs.

The Marlins brought their offense in bunches between the fourth and the fifth inning. Brian Anderson started the offense off with a big double. Derek Dietrich, Starlin Castro, and J.T. Riddle each provided a single, scoring in two runs. Austin Dean then grounded out but scored a run making it 3-0 Miami.

The fifth inning started eerily similar with a double from Anderson, followed by three singles to make it 5-0 Miami. The Jays came back the next inning with a single, double, and sac fly to make it 5-1. Straily settled down after that getting Kendrys Morales to ground out ending the inning.

Fast forward to the ninth when all hell broke loose. Kyle Barraclough was called into the game to finish things up. He got one out but gave up two singles and a walk before he was pulled out of the game. Drew Steckenrider replaced him and well, he did get the next batter out. After that though another walk to load the bases, rinse and repeat.

The ninth inning has never been nice to the Fish. This is especially true when the bases are loaded. History did not change tonight as Justin Smoak came up and put things to rest. Smoak slammed a ball out of the park into the bullpen. The pitch was at the top of the zone, it looked like his wheelhouse. The Fish tried to comeback in the bottom of the inning, getting two men on but failed. The rally was done and just like that the Fish fell to 53-82.

Kingfish: Justin Smoak (.735 WPA).

Flounder: Drew Steckenrider (-.721).

Play of the Game: Smoak’s grand slam.

Attendance: 8,871

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Matchup Summary:

The Marlins looked like they could of swept the Boston Red Sox in a two game series, I know shocking. Sadly reality came back and the Fish squandered both games and lost. Now they are facing the Toronto Blue Jays in a three game series. This will finish up their games against the American League East. They have had mixed results at best against this division.

Dan Straily will be starting tonight for the Fish. His last outing was an impressive six scoreless innings against the Braves. The Blue Jays will be sending out Aaron Sanchez. He has been hurt for a good portion of the season and just came back last week. He was lit up by the Phillies, so hopefully there is still a lot of rust left.

Game Thread Question:

Would you keep Rojas, Castro and Dietrich or would you want three guys from Triple A to fill their spots?