After getting ‘beat up pretty early,’ Marlins’ offense showing life during the past week
.JPG "Miami Marlins second baseman Starlin Castro, seen here pouring water on his head in the visitor’s dugout at Citizens Bank Park, has recorded multiple hits in four of his last six games.")
For a moment, Citizens Bank Park fell silent.
The four-game series opener between the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies had just gone into extra innings Thursday night. Marlins second baseman Starlin Castro made sure the game didn’t extend past the 10th inning.
With a 2-2 count and two outs, Castro belted a 94 mph fastball from Hector Neris over the left-field fence for the go-ahead, two-run home run that gave the Marlins a 3-1 win over the Phillies, their third consecutive win to open a series.
“I just wanted an opportunity that inning,” Castro said. “I kept a good approach.”
As the Marlins look to turn the page from a tumultuous offensive start to the 2019 season and build on their run of four wins during the past six games, getting production from veteran hitters such as Castro will be key.
“The more [wins] you put together, the better you feel,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “You’re going to gain confidence. We were getting beat up pretty early, but throwing the ball pretty good. ... You start to know that your guys are keeping you in it. Every time you get a guy in can be big. It’s something that can take hold.”
And during the last week, they have gotten just that.
The Marlins have recorded at least nine hits in three of their last five games.
Castro is hitting .391 during the past six games, the 20th-best mark in MLB over the past week heading into Friday. He has multiple hits in four of those contests, but none bigger than that game-winning home run Thursday.
Meanwhile, third baseman/right fielder Brian Anderson is on an eight-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games after receiving an off day on April 10 during the middle of the Marlins’ road trip to the Cincinnati Reds. In that 12-game span, Anderson is hitting .327 (16 for 49) with three doubles, two home runs, four runs scored and nine walks.
And Neil Walker has seven hits (including three doubles) over the last four games to bring his batting average up from .194 to .250. He set Castro up for his 10th-inning homer by smashing a double to the left-field wall.
“We’ve done a really good job of giving ourselves opportunities. That was something he didn’t necessarily do the first two weeks of the season,” Walker said. “If you’re getting hits and working the count, you’re probably going to give yourself opportunities.”
And the Marlins, who are still averaging a league-worst 2.72 runs per game, need to take advantage of every one of those opportunities, especially now that the rest of the NL East has begun to regress to the mean. While the Marlins are still securely in last place with an 8-17 record, the division-leading New York Mets are only two games over .500 at 13-11. The Phillies (13-12), Washington Nationals (12-12) and Atlanta Braves (11-12) are bunched up together near the top, as well.
“Every win for us as a young group is big,” Mattingly said. “And we know what division we’re in. We’re in a black-and-blue division. Everyone is going to beat each other up all season long. If you can kind of win your share and hang in there, there’s going to be games to make up all the time. It’s going to be a long, drawn-out affair.”
This story was originally published April 26, 2019 at 2:06 PM.
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