One day after Marlins clinch a playoff spot, Yankees pounce on Miami’s bullpen
With the Miami Marlins’ playoff spot clinched, manager Don Mattingly took Saturday’s afternoon game with the New York Yankees as an opportunity to experiment. He rested regulars Brian Anderson, Corey Dickerson, Jesus Aguilar and Starling Marte. He pulled starting pitcher Trevor Rogers after three innings and took a hard look at his mid-inning bullpen options.
And the Marlins went toe-to-toe with a fully-loaded Yankees lineup for four and a half innings before New York pounced and Miami had to play catch up.
Tyler Wade, Aaron Hicks and Luke Voit hit home runs and presumptive MLB batting champion DJ LeMahieu had four hits, including a two-run double in the sixth and an RBI single in the seventh, to trounce the Marlins 11-4 at Yankee Stadium.
Ten of New York’s runs came in the fifth and sixth innings after the Yankees (33-26) fell behind by three runs early. Wade’s two-run home run came on a first-pitch fastball against Ryne Stanek in the fifth. Giancarlo Stanton tied the game with doubled off James Hoyt to score Aaron Judge, who Stanek walked to end his outing.
Hicks’ two-run home run off Stephen Tarpley in the sixth gave the Yankees their first lead of the series, while LeMahieu’s double into the left-field corner and Voit’s MLB leading 22nd home run (a three run shot) off Nick Vincent put the game out of reach.
The Marlins (30-29) jumped to a 3-0 lead in the third on a Miguel Rojas double that scored Monte Harrison from first, a Jon Berti single that scored Rojas from third and a Matt Joyce single that scored Berti from second. Joyce had three hits and two RBI. Harrison, primarily used as a pinch-runner and late-inning defensively replacement over the last two weeks, had the first multi-hit game of his MLB career.
Rogers, the ninth-ranked prospect in the Marlins organization according to MLB Pipeline, threw three scoreless innings, giving up two hits (both to LeMahieu) and a walk with four strikeouts. Mattingly pulled Rogers early because they intend to have him available out of the bullpen to start their playoff run, which starts Wednesday with the best-of-3 wild card round.
Miami BBWAA award winners
The Miami chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced its 2020 Award winners on Saturday.
First baseman Jesus Aguilar was voted as the Marlins’ Most Valuable Player and Sixto Sanchez the Rookie of the Year. Starting pitcher Pablo Lopez is the recipient for the Charlie Hough “Good Guy” Award and catcher Francisco Cervelli earned the Jeff Conine “Heart & Professionalism” Award.
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