Our Noticias 8/5/20: Motley crew wins first game back; Fish in first place

Marlins baseball returned Tuesday night after a COVID-19 outbreak spread to over half the team and forced the cancellation of a week’s worth of games. Despite losing 18 players due to the illness, the Fish still managed to win their first game back behind an outstanding five-innings from Pablo López. Francisco Cervelli and Jesús Aguilar powered the win with homers in the fifth and eighth innings, respectively.

A couple of relievers the team acquired as a result of the outbreak made their first appearances after López exited the game. James Hoyt and Richard Bleier each recorded holds before the slightly more familiar Brad Boxberger and Brandon Kintzler locked down the win.

However, the big debut of the evening belonged to none other than Monte Harrison. The Marlins’ no. 10 overall prospect tore the cover off the ball in both versions of the pre-season but was unceremoniously left off the roster to start the season. The 24-year-old, acquired in the Christian Yelich trade, didn’t do much with the bat in his first game as he struck out three times, but he did show off his glove, ending the second inning with a diving catch.

Harrison’s arrival is the culmination of a busy week for those in the front office, who had to scurry to pick up almost every warm body they could find on the free-agent wire. Here is what Tuesday alone looked like on MLB’s transactions page:

And here we have the full list of all the players the Marlins added over the past week, with a little bit on their careers as well. Among those to join the team is Miami native and former Olympic speedskater, Eddy Alvarez, who as you might have begun to imagine, has quite the interesting backstory.

Walk-off links:

• Regarding the cause of the outbreak itself, MLB found some Marlins had suffered several lapses in judgment regarding the observance of social-distancing protocols.
• Our Juan Paez reminds you what had us excited before the COVID layoff.
• The Marlins play two today. Game 1 starts at 5:05 p.m. ET.
• And perhaps this is burying the lede, but Pablo would like to remind you the Fish are in first place: