MIA 12, COL 13; Marlins Lose Back-and-Forth in Colorado

Coors Field giveth and Coors Field taketh. The Miami Marlins put up 12 runs in one of their better offensive performances of the season, but still couldn’t keep pace in a 13-12 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

With eight lead changes and six home runs, this was a classic high-scoring game in Denver’s high altitude that was always likely to be won by whoever scored last.

The Marlins pushed across the go-ahead run in the tenth inning when Avisaíl García hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Jon Berti.

Cole Sulser came in to close in the bottom half of the tenth. But with a placed runner already at second base, Brendan Rodgers hit his third home run of the night in the first at-bat of the inning to send the Marlins packing in yet another one-run loss.

The Marlins have been using a closer-by-committee this year, with little success. Sulser, who was traded from the Baltimore Orioles just before Opening Day, has perhaps had the worst production in save situations. In 10 games in that role, he has a 9.39 ERA with only two saves.

So who did have a good outing from the bullpen? None other than Anthony Bass, who has excelled in his role as a 7th and 8th inning high-leverage reliever. On Wednesday night, he entered the game with runners on first and second with one out, and proceeded to retire the next two batters. He pitched 2 ⅔ scoreless innings, and was only one of two Marlins pitchers to give up zero runs in the game—Steven Okert was the other, but he only recorded one out before being pulled.

Most of the offense from both teams happened prior to the seventh inning. By the end of the sixth, Miami and Colorado had already played to an 11-11 tie. Willians Astudillo went 2-for-5 with three RBI, including a two-run home run in the third inning. Jesús Sánchez and Miguel Rojas also homered, with Sánchez’s shot going 460 feet to center field.

Despite their offensive output, the Marlins still left plenty of runs on the board, especially late in the game. The Marlins had two runners on in both the eighth and ninth innings with a chance to take the lead, but failed both times. The Fish only hit 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Notes

-Trevor Rogers was shaky again, giving up five runs and a season-high five walks in 3 ⅔ innings

-According to the Bally Sports Florida broadcast, Willians Astudillo has gone 49 plate appearances without a strikeout (dating back to last season).

-This was perhaps Avisaíl García’s best day as a Marlin. Across the doubleheader, he went 5-for-8 with four RBI.

-The Marlins scored a combined 26 runs in Wednesday’s doubleheader, compared to 30 in their previous 10 games; 12 percent of their runs this season were scored on Wednesday.

Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

Baseball Savant