Marlins use home runs and strong performance from bullpen to get past Diamondbacks
Less than 24 hours after the Miami Marlins lost a big piece of their bullpen in a trade, a few of their remaining relievers stepped up Sunday afternoon.
With closer Sergio Romo dealt to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night, the Marlins’ bullpen combined to throw five scoreless innings on the way to a 5-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks (53-53) at Marlins Park.
“A clean game all day,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “... We got some big outs out of the ‘pen again.”
Relievers Jose Quijada, Trevor Richards, Nick Anderson and Jarlin Garcia combined to allow one hit while striking out seven in five scoreless innings. Quijada pitched the fifth and sixth, Richards pitched the seventh, Anderson pitched the eighth (and got out of a bases-loaded jam unscathed) and Garcia pitched the ninth.
With the score tied 1-1, the Marlins (40-63) scored the game-winning run in the fifth on a two-out liner from Harold Ramirez that bounced off the glove of left fielder David Peralta. The error allowed Miguel Rojas to score all the way from first base, which turned out to be the decisive run.
Brian Anderson gave the Marlins an insurance run in the sixth inning when he crushed an up-in-the-zone fastball from Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray for his 14th home run of the season. The solo shot gave the Marlins a 3-1 lead.
Then Ramirez added two more runs, for good measure, with a two-run homer in the seventh inning to extend the Marlins’ lead to 5-1.
Elieser Hernandez was solid in his first start since replacing Richards in the Marlins’ rotation, albeit in a short appearance that lasted just 66 pitches as he makes the transition from reliever to starter. Hernandez, 24, allowed one run on three hits while striking out two and walking two in four innings of work, and retired the final five batters he faced.
“We were at a spot where we could have sent him back out probably,” Mattingly said of the decision to pull Hernandez after four innings. “But it just seemed like the right thing right there with the spot in the order they were in coming to the top.”
In six starts, Hernandez is 1-3 with a 3.81 ERA over 30 2/3 innings this season. The righty owns a 4.93 overall ERA for the year.
The Marlins’ team pitching performance was enough to outduel Ray, who allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out 11 and walking none in six innings.
Rojas was responsible for the first run, as he gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the first inning when he hit a leadoff home run for the second consecutive game. He’s just the second player in Marlins history to hit a leadoff homer in back-to-back games, with Hanley Ramirez also pulling it off on July 17-18, 2006, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Rojas has gone 6 for 12 with two home runs over the first three games of the four-game series. Each of his three homers this season have been of the leadoff variety.
“All of a sudden, we’ve seen some power recently, which he showed last year,” Mattingly said of Rojas. “So obviously, we don’t want him to force that, but that will happen for him because he just keeps making good contact and having solid at-bats.”
The Diamondbacks had an immediate response, as Nick Ahmed scored on a throwing error from Ramirez in left field to tie the game in the second inning. On an Alex Avila single, Ramirez tried to throw Ahmed out at third base but the ball instead ended up by the Marlins’ dugout.
That was the only run the Diamondbacks would score.
With three home runs Sunday, the Marlins are now 17-2 when hitting two or more homers in a game this season.
“For the whole team to have success in this homestand, hitting the ball out of the ballpark and finding our power stroke,” Rojas said. “It’s been really good to watch. But all the credit goes to the pitching staff, which has been keeping us in the game. I feel like we’ve been playing really good baseball lately.”
The Marlins and Diamondbacks wrap up their four-game set Monday at 7:10 p.m. The Marlins have won two of the first three games.
WHO WILL CLOSE?
With the Marlins trading Romo on Saturday, they now have a void to fill at closer.
While Mattingly was non-committal Sunday on who would fill the role, he brought up two candidates — Nick Anderson and Garcia.
“I think Andy [Anderson] has probably been the guy with the most dominant stuff out of the ‘pen,” Mattingly said. “Jarlin is throwing the ball good back there. I still like to be able to use Andy in leverage with the best part of their lineup. That may be the ninth, that may be the eighth. So we’ll use him accordingly and just try to figure out the next part of that.”
Anderson owns a 3.95 ERA this season, and has 68 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings. Garcia has posted a 2.51 ERA this season, and he’s 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts in his past 17 appearances.
Of the mark Romo left on the Marlins’ younger players, Mattingly said: “I think it was good for our guys to see a guy who is just kind of having fun and he’s all over the place. But at game time, this guy is in a total different place. He’s in lockdown mode when he’s out there. I think that’s something really to learn from for our guys.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ The Marlins recalled right-handed pitcher Jeff Brigham from Triple A New Orleans to fill Romo’s roster spot. Brigham, 27, has already made eight relief appearances for the Marlins this season, posting a 5.68 ERA in 12 2/3 innings.
▪ Yadiel Rivera started in center field for the Marlins on Sunday. He filled in for Cesar Puello, who was out of the lineup due to soreness.
This story was originally published July 28, 2019 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Marlins use home runs and strong performance from bullpen to get past Diamondbacks."
