Bullpen, big home run from Marte lead Marlins to comeback win over Blue Jays
The games rested on the bullpen’s arms and an offensive rally. Miami Marlins starting pitcher Elieser Hernandez left Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays three pitches into the third inning with a sore right lat muscle, leaving Miami’s corps of relievers responsible for the bulk of the pitching duties.
The group, headlined by four strong innings from Josh A. Smith, held its own over its extended outing, giving up one run over seven innings, and gave the offense enough time erase a pair of one-run deficits before newly acquired outfielder Starling Marte blasted a go-ahead home run to left-center field to lift the Marlins to a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays at Marlins Park.
The win snaps an eight-game home losing streak.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Marte is the second player in Marlins history to hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or later in his Marlins debut. The other: Miguel Cabrera’s two-run walkoff home run against Tampa Bay’s Al Levine on June 20, 2003.
Marte, acquired at the trade deadline Monday from the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitchers Caleb Smith, Humberto Mejia and Julio Frias, had gone 0 for 3 before hitting the game-winning home run. The dugout emphatically celebrated the second the ball left Marte’s bat at 107.7 mph.
“Once I hit the ball, I felt it,” Marte said through a translator. “The energy that I felt with the bat, I knew it was gone. When I got to the dugout, it was great, enjoying it with the guys. I felt their support. It was a joyful moment.”
“This guy’s a star,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly added.
Hernandez, one of two Marlins starting pitchers to make every scheduled start this year, is listed as day-to-day. He is scheduled to get an MRI on Wednesday, and Mattingly said he anticipates Hernandez missing his next scheduled start.
With Hernandez out early, the bullpen, erratic for most of the year, did everything in its power to keep the Marlins (16-15) in the game.
It started with Smith, who entered for Hernandez and proceeded to hold the Blue Jays (18-16) to one run over four innings. He held Toronto to three hits and a pair of walks while striking out three.
In the sixth inning, his final on the mound, Smith put runners on first and second with no outs via a Vladimir Guerrero Jr single and Rowdy Tellez walk. Smith then proceeded to pick off Guerrero at second and got Lourdes Gurriel Jr to ground into a double play to get out of the jam and keep the Marlins’ deficit at the time to one run.
“Josh was huge,” Mattingly said. “... There were a number of guys we didn’t want to use. We were pretty short out there [in the bullpen]. Josh’s innings were huge.”
Richard Bleier then tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings before James Hoyt got the Marlins through the eighth.
Brandon Kintzler closed it out in the ninth, earning his eighth save in as many opportunities. He is the only reliever in the National League to have at least five save opportunities and convert them all.
Miami fell behind in the first on a Jonathan Villar RBI groundout and again on a Derek Fisher sacrifice fly in the fourth but rallied to get back in the game.
Jon Berti, expected to get a good share of reps at second base after the Marlins traded Villar to Toronto on Monday, gave the Marlins their first run on a solo home run to right-center field in the third. Garrett Cooper tied the game a second time in the sixth with an RBI double that scored Marte, who reached base on a Villar fielding error.
Marte then gave Miami its first lead of the game in the eighth with his 438 foot home run that cleared the wall in left-center field.
“That was an instant one,” Mattingly said. “As soon as that first split second that it takes off, you know that’s way out. The dugout erupts. We were able to fight back in. I think they all know the situation we’re in as you go into the game. ... It’s a great start for him.”
This and that
▪ Mattingly said first baseman Jesus Aguilar is ready to play after missing the last week with back stiffness. Aguilar will likely return to the starting lineup Wednesday to cap the two-game series with the Blue Jays, Mattingly said.
▪ Jazz Chisholm, the Marlins’ No. 4 overall prospect who was called up before the game, replaced Miguel Rojas at shortstop in the eighth inning. He caught a line drive by Cavan Biggio for the first out of the inning. Rojas was removed from the game with a sore abdomen and is listed by the team as day-to-day.
▪ Top Marlins prospect Sixto Sanchez will start in Wednesday’s series finale. Hyun-Jin Ryu starts for the Blue Jays.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 9:20 PM.
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