Two homers help Marlins beat Pirates in extras and snap 15-game road losing streak
The Miami Marlins were one out away from dropping yet another road game.
Miguel Rojas and Garrett Cooper weren’t going to let them give up that easily.
Rojas, with two outs in the ninth inning, took a 1-1 offering from Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Felipe Vazquez over the center-field wall for a game-tying home run that forced the series opener into extra innings.
And then Garrett Cooper — the Marlins’ offensive catalyst all night — put them back in the lead for good with a 10th-inning, 444 foot home run to center field. It sealed a 5-4 win over the Pirates at PNC Park and snapped the Marlins’ 15-game road losing streak.
It was the Marlins’ first road win since beating the Chicago White Sox on July 24.
Jose Urena earned his second career MLB save by retiring the side in the bottom half of the 10th.
But the win didn’t come easy.
The Marlins (49-88) found themselves in a late hole after Sandy Alcantara, in the midst of yet another strong performance, unraveled in the eighth inning.
Walks to pinch-hitters Jason Martin and Cole Tucker with a balk mixed in during a tie ballgame sent Alcantara to the dugout after throwing 103 pitches. Adam Frazier’s sacrifice bunt against Jarlin Garcia moved the duo over. A strikeout to Bryan Reynolds followed before the Marlins intentionally walked Starling Marte to load the bases.
Two pitches later, Garcia’s 94 mph fastball skipped into the dirt and past catcher Bryan Holaday’s glove, allowing Martin to score the go-ahead run, forcing the Marlins to rally.
It snapped an otherwise steady start from Alcantara, who once again showed in spurts that he can be a front-line starter before fading away.
Alcantara retired 14 consecutive batters after giving up a leadoff home run to Frazier in the first while the offense — led by Cooper — gave him a rare lead.
Cooper ended Miami’s shutout in the third when the slugger hit a dribbler to third base with the bases loaded that normally would be an inning-ending force out. Instead, Pirates third baseman Colin Moran’s throw sailed past first baseman Josh Bell for an error. Jon Berti and Starlin Castro scored on the play to give the Marlins a 2-1 lead.
Two innings later, Cooper gave the Marlins insurance when he turned on a first-pitch slider from Pirates reliever Geoff Hartlieb for an RBI double.
The lead was short lived.
Alcantara loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth before Frazier hit a game-tying single to shallow right field.
Alcantara settled in over the next two innings before his eight-inning struggles momentarily gave the Pirates (60-78) the momentum.
Two home runs quickly changed that.
Playoff bound
Three Marlins minor-league affiliates qualified for postseason action, although only two will participate in the playoffs.
Miami’s Gulf Coast League affiliate and short-season Batavia (of the New York-Penn League) won their divisions to make it to the playoffs. The Class A Clinton, Iowa, Lumberkings earned a wild card spot in the Midwest League.
Clinton and Batavia begin their respective playoff runs on Wednesday. The GCL canceled the final two days of its regular season and its postseason slate last week due to the potential threat of Hurricane Dorian.
Overall, the Marlins’ minor-league affiliates went 374-368 in the regular season. It marks the first time since 2012 that the organization had a combined winning record among its minor-league teams.
This story was originally published September 3, 2019 at 10:32 PM.
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