Marlins use big fourth inning and another strong Urena start to even series with Padres
The Miami Marlins’ fourth-inning rally on Saturday night started and ended with Garrett Cooper singles.
What happened in between was one of their more fundamentally sound offensive outbursts of the season.
The Marlins sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning, churning out five runs on six hits and a walk to back up yet another strong start by Jose Urena and secure a 9-3 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The Marlins (20-36) can claim the series with a win on Sunday.
“That was good to see,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “We needed a little kick start.”
Here’s how the deciding fourth inning went down:
▪ Cooper single to center field.
▪ Brian Anderson double to left field.
▪ Starlin Castro walk on four pitches.
▪ Harold Ramirez two-RBI double to left field, scoring Cooper and Anderson and tying the game at 2-2.
▪ Martin Prado RBI single to center field, scoring Castro. 3-2 Marlins
▪ Miguel Rojas RBI single to right field, scoring Ramirez and chasing Padres starter Nick Margevicius from the game. 4-2 Marlins.
▪ Bryan Holaday, starting at catcher for Jorge Alfaro (jaw discomfort), swinging strikeout.
▪ Urena fielder’s choice, with Prado forced out at third on a bunt attempt.
▪ Curtis Granderson, pinch-hitting for Austin Dean (who opened the game 0 for 2), reaches on an error by first baseman Eric Hosmer to reload the bases.
▪ Cooper RBI single to right field, his second hit of the inning, scoring Rojas. 5-2 Marlins.
▪ Anderson swinging strikeout.
The six hits and five runs in a single inning both tied single-season highs.
“The first time through the lineup, [Margevicius] had good success against us. The second time through, we saw him a lot better,” Cooper said. “... Hitting’s contagious. As soon as a couple of guys get on, you can see guys get more confident.”
Holaday hit a two-run home run in the sixth for his first hit of the season to extend the Marlins’ lead. Miami closed scoring with two runs in the ninth on a Castro RBI single and Ramirez RBI fielder’s choice that respectively scored Granderson and JT Riddle.
It was more than enough run support for Urena, who won his third consecutive game by giving up just three earned runs on three hits and three walks while striking out six over six innings of work. Saturday was Urena’s fifth consecutive quality start and eighth over his last nine appearances.
His lone blemishes: A two-run home run to Josh Naylor, a former Marlins prospect, in the second and a pair of singles to Greg Garcia and Eric Hosmer in the sixth.
Tayron Guerrero, Nick Anderson and Adam Conley held the Padres (30-28) scoreless over the final three innings, giving up just one hit while striking out five of the final 10 batters.
This story was originally published June 2, 2019 at 12:57 AM.
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