Marlins waste two Stanton homers as Blue Jays hit walk-off home run
Giancarlo Stanton’s latest power surge wasn’t enough to lift the Miami Marlins over the hottest offense in baseball.
Stanton hit two solo home runs Tuesday to bring his MLB-leading total to 21 this season, but it was Edwin Encarnacion’s two-run, walk-off home run that gave the Toronto Blue Jays a 4-3 comeback victory in the second meeting of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.
Encarnacion’s game-winning shot to center field was the first home run allowed by Marlins closer A.J. Ramos since May 28, 2014.
“In this role, you have to be perfect, or else you are a failure,” Ramos said. “[On Tuesday] I wasn’t perfect, and that’s what happens.”
The Blue Jays (30-30), the highest-scoring team in the majors, have won seven in a row, compiling 50 runs during that span.
“They are a good hitting team and that group right there in the middle of the lineup is as good as any in baseball,” Marlins manager Dan Jennings said.
The Marlins (24-25) produced 10 hits, twice as many as the Blue Jays, but stranded eight runners on base, and their three home runs — Christian Yelich also had one — all came without runners on base.
Miami also spoiled a solid start from Dan Haren, who gave up three hits, no walks and two earned runs while matching a season-high with seven strikeouts in seven innings.
“Dan has been so huge for us to step up and have great outings time after time,” Jennings said. “[On Tuesday] he showed that ability to control the bat speed. He put us in a great opportunity to win the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t.”
Mark Buehrle pitched six innings for the Blue Jays, allowing eight hits and two earned runs. He had complete-game victories in his previous two outings. Liam Hendriks pitched the ninth-inning and picked up his second win of the season.
Stanton staked out a 1-0 lead for Miami when he drove the fifth pitch of the game over the short fence in left field. He hit his second home run to the same spot off of Blue Jays reliever Roberto Osuna to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh.
It was Stanton’s third multi-home run game this season and 16th of his career. He also passed Miguel Cabrera for fourth on the Marlins’ all-time list with 332 extra-base hits. In two games against Toronto, Stanton has gone 5 for 7 with three home runs and two doubles.
Haren retired the first nine batters he faced before the Toronto offense got going in the bottom of the fourth to tie the score at 2.
Former Marlin Jose Reyes led off the inning with a double down the right-field line, extending his hit streak against the Marlins to 17 games. Reyes reached third base on a Josh Donaldson single, then scored on Jose Bautista’s sacrifice fly to right. Donaldson scored from third on a deep fly ball to left from Encarnacion.
This story was originally published June 9, 2015 at 10:07 PM with the headline "Marlins waste two Stanton homers as Blue Jays hit walk-off home run."