‘Little mistakes’ come back to haunt Marlins as they settle for series split with Braves
The walks came back to haunt Miami Marlins starting pitcher Hector Noesi.
So did a late baserunning gaffe from Isan Diaz.
Noesi gave up two home runs late in his start against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday — one to Ender Inciarte in the fourth after walking two batters and one to Ronald Acuna Jr. in the fifth — and Diaz stunted the Marlins’ ninth-inning rally attempt when he was tagged out after taking a hard turn following a bloop single as the Braves won 5-4 to split the four-game series at Marlins Park.
“The value of outs,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “All the little mistakes have a chance to cost you.”
The Marlins (44-73) won the series opener 9-2 on Thursday and clawed back from a four-run deficit in the ninth inning on Saturday to earn a 7-6 walk-off win in extras. The Braves (70-50) won 8-4 on Friday before holding on Sunday to avoid the series loss.
The Marlins once again put themselves in a position late to steal a win from the National League East-leading Braves.
Down a run going into the bottom of the ninth, Isan Diaz hit a leadoff single when a popup fell in shallow right field with Acuna Jr. playing deep. Diaz did not anticipate the ball dropping for a base hit and was a few steps past the first-base bag following an aggressive turn. Acuna scooped up the ball and threw to first baseman Freddie Freeman, who tagged Diaz out.
“I just need to be more aware of it next time,” Diaz said. “Really know the situation and not let it happen again.”
Garrett Cooper and Starlin Castro then hit back-to-back two-out singles in the to put the tying run at third, but Harold Ramirez flew out to center field to end the game.
The Marlins were in the deficit in the first place after Noesi, making his second MLB start since 2015, gave up a pair of home runs after Miami gave him a two-run lead after the first inning.
It started in the fourth when he surrendered back-to-back walks to Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson to start the inning. Three batters later, Inciarte belted a home run to right field to give the Braves a lead. Acuna Jr.’s fifth-inning homer gave them a needed insurance run.
But before those two walks and two game-defining home runs, Noesi held his own against the Braves. Atlanta’s first three batters reached base — Acuna Jr with a single, Ozzie Albies with a walk and Freeman with an RBI single — to take a 1-0 lead before Noesi retired eight consecutive batters with five strikeouts mixed in.
All told, Noesi tied a career high with eight strikeouts but gave up five earned runs — four of which came on the two home runs.
The Marlins put up three runs in the first on a Castro RBI single and Ramirez two-run double. Jorge Alfaro’s infield single in the sixth scored Castro, who had four hits on Sunday, to bring the Marlins within a run.
“It’s who we’ve been all year long,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Guys have continued to play. There’s going to be games where we get over that hump and other ones that we don’t.”
This and that
▪ Sunday capped a strong home series for Castro, who went 11 for 19 at the plate with three doubles, two home runs, eight RBI and four runs scored in four games against the Braves.
▪ Acuna Jr. hit four home runs this series against the Marlins. Eight of his 33 home runs this year have been against Miami.
▪ The Marlins are now 11-17 in one-run games this year. Eight of the Marlins’ 16 games against the Braves have been decided by one-run, including five of the last seven. Miami is 2-6 in those situations against the Braves.
This story was originally published August 11, 2019 at 4:34 PM.
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