MIA 11, ARI 3; Ninth-inning rally wins it

In a desperation game for the Marlins, all parts of the team stepped up to prevent a series sweep.

In a refreshing chance, the offense gave Sandy Alcantara some early run support. Joey Wendle broke the scoreless tie with a 2-run homer in the first inning and Jacob Stallings added a RBI the next inning.

Sandy was in a good groove (7.0 IP, 6 SO, 3 BB, 1 R, 1 ER) only allowing the Diamondbacks on the scoreboard when Alek Thomas hit his first major league home run. Thomas is the top-ranked prospect in the D-backs organization, according to MLB Pipeline.

The game stayed at 3-1 for a long time after that. Both offenses were dormant until the bottom of the 8th inning came and Jordan Luplow hit a 2-run home run off of Steven Okert to tie the game.

Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly was a little bit off (5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR), raising his ERA to 1.71. Coming out of the Diamondbacks bullpen, former Marlin Caleb Smith actually made a bigger impact. He had his best outing of the season, pitching 3 perfect innings and striking out 6.

Veteran closer Mark Melancon attempted to hold the game at 3-3 in the 9th inning. It all began with a Avisaíl García walk, then with 2 outs, a Bryan De La Cruz single kept the rally alive (DLC’s .300 BA is tied with Jon Berti for the second-highest on the team now). Jacob Stallings got the clutch RBI single—possibly the biggest hit of the entire Marlins season—to drive in De La Cruz and give the Fish a 4-3 lead.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. stepped up to the plate and blasted a 3-run home run to extend the lead to 7-3. With all of the Marlins’ struggling closing games, those extra runs were huge.

Garrett Cooper, Erik González and Jorge Soler kept the line moving, and Avisaíl García delivered the knockout blow with a 3-run home run. Statcast estimated it at 440 ft and it finally pushed García’s batting average over .200.

Cole Sulser worked the bottom of the 9th to secure the win. With a record of 14-17, the Marlins remain tied with the Phillies in the NL East standings.

Miami’s veteran bats look to be getting it going and the top of the starting rotation is in great hands.

The only issue with this bounce-back win is the uncertain status of Joey Wendle. He was removed from the game in the 3rd inning with what the Marlins said was hamstring tightness. Wendle missed time last week due to hamstring soreness, so he unfortunately didn’t fully recover like they hoped.

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Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

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The Marlins go back home to face the Milwaukee Brewers in a 3-game set that will be highlighted by Pablo López in game 1, Trevor Rogers in game 2, and Elieser Hernandez in game 3. The franchise is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1997 championship team.