Garrett Cooper leads the charge as Marlins win 4-3 over Pirates

The Marlins edged out the Pirates 4-3 in a game of opportunities. Both teams made some mistakes, but the Fish made the most out of them. Pablo López was not at his best, but did give the Fish seven innings.

Pablo López: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Dario Agrazal: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

López had his stuff working in the early part of Saturday's game—his secondary pitches had tremendous movement. There were plenty of swings that the Pirates wish they could’ve had back. He was also hitting his spots with ease.

The third inning was the first challenge López faced. Elias Diaz sent a changeup to the warning track. It looked like Curtis Granderson was going to catch it, but it landed just to the left of him. The Fish got the next two outs on ground balls. Kevin Newman then tapped a ball lightly down the third base line. Neither López nor Brian Anderson had a play on it. López limited it to one run and got the next guy out.

The fourth inning would be the last time the Pirates scored against the Marlins. Starling Marte started things off with a double. Jorge Alfaro wanted the pitch outside, but López delivered it inside. This happened a few times with López struggling to find his spots later in the game.

Josh Bell was next and snuck a ground ball past the shift making it 2-0 Pirates. Colin Moran reached base on a fielders choice, Miguel Rojas then made a fantastic heads-up play to get Bell out at third. López then gave up a run-scoring double to Corey Dickerson.

After finishing up the inning, López went back to cruising mode. He made it through seven before his pitch count was too high.

The Marlins had their own version of a two-inning attack. They scored three in the third, tying up the game. Garrett Cooper, Harold Ramirez, Alfaro, and Rojas each had a hit in the inning. The Fish jumped on early pitches that were offered up by Agrazal.

There was a costly fielding error by the Pirates which helped extend the rally. The Fish took advantage with two more hits after this.

The next inning of offense was started again by Cooper. He singled to right, followed by a double from Anderson. Starlin Castro then grounded out to third base, scoring Cooper in the process. Cooper had three hits and extended his hitting streak to five games. Cooper was the driving force behind Miami’s offense. Ramirez also had three hits and swiped a bag.

Nick Anderson pitched the eighth for the Fish. He walked one batter and struck out two in his inning of work. Sergio Romo was then called in to get the save. After getting one out he gave up a single to Dickerson. The next pitch would end the game for the Fish. Melky Cabrera hit a ball back to Romo which he turned for a double play.

The win was a good one for the Fish—they did not want to lose another series without having the rubber match. The Fish will have Sandy Alcántara on the mound against Chris Archer on Father’s Day (1:10 ET first pitch).

Pirates vs Marlins box score (MLB.com)

Fish Picks answer key

1. Marlins
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5. Marlins