Corey Dickerson gave the Marlins chances in a must-win game. The chances fell flat
His three hits Thursday, all with fewer than two outs, gave the Miami Marlins chances to start a rally. His diving grab in left field in the second inning stopped the Atlanta Braves’ first attempt to get on the scoreboard.
The Marlins were looking for a spark, someone to ignite this team in a do-or-die playoff game. Corey Dickerson provided that early.
Miami didn’t build on it. Instead, their season ended with a 7-0 loss to the Braves, their third loss in as many days in this best-of-5 National League Division Series matchup at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.
Dickerson, one of the more than a half-dozen veterans the Marlins added to the organization this offseason, had base hits in the first, third and eighth innings.
The first inning ended with runners on first and second when Brian Anderson struck out and Garrett Cooper grounded out.
The bases were left loaded in the third when Jazz Chisholm hit a hard groundball straight to second baseman Ozzie Albies to end the inning.
And the eighth ended with Jesus Aguilar popping out and Anderson lining out.
Miami went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position on Thursday and left eight runners on base. For the three-game series, they went 3 for 20 with runners in scoring position, stranded 21 runners on base and were shut out for the final 19 innings.
“We had a couple chances early,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “and we didn’t get that hit. That was the tell of this season. ... We just didn’t get that done.”
Home grown national anthem
The Marlins were the home team for Game 3, so the in-game experience at neutral site Thursday at Minute Maid Park replicated what it would have been like at Marlins Park.
That included the pre-game national anthem performance, which was sung by 17-year-old Silvio Plata, a junior at Miami Braddock High School and the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Plata pre-recorded the anthem at Marlins Park on Tuesday.
Plata, who lost his eyes during surgeries at the age of 9 months and 18 months after being diagnosed with retinoblastoma, sang the national anthem at Marlins Park a couple times over the past two years.
Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas, who invited Plata to record the anthem for Thursday, overheard an interview he did with Fox Sports Florida during a Sept. 18, 2018, game against the Washington Nationals after Plata performed the anthem for the first time at the ballpark. He gave Plata an autographed bat while on-deck to hit in the seventh inning.
“I was listening to what he was saying about life and adversity,” Rojas said that day. “When you’re facing adversity, you take that as a challenge. That’s something that really got me. It touched me because as a baseball player, we complain about a lot. You complain about going 0 for 4 or not having a good at-bat or not helping the team win. We worry so much about that, but when someone has something like that, something that they’re battling in life, it’s when you realize that your problems are not bad.”
Catcher Francisco Cervelli, who announced his retirement last weekend after 13 MLB seasons (his final with the Marlins), made the pre-game “Play Ball” announcement from a pre-recorded video.
This and that
▪ Chisholm and fellow rookie Trevor Rogers each made their playoff debuts.
Chisholm started at shortstop as Mattingly shifted Jon Berti to start in right field. Chisholm, the Marlins’ No. 4 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline, drew a walk in his first plate appearance and went 1 for 3, hitting a ninth-inning double.
Chisholm and Rogers are among 11 Marlins’ rookies that made their major league debut this season after being promoted from Double-A or lower including 10 that were ranked among their top 30 prospects. Chisholm, Rogers, Sixto Sanchez, Braxton Garrett and Daniel Castano all made it to the playoff roster.
Rogers entered the game in the fourth and pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
▪ Catcher Chad Wallach started all five playoff games, but Jorge Alfaro pinch hit for him in the fourth inning and remained behind the plate for the rest of the game. Alfaro went 0 for 2, striking out once.
Mattingly reiterated he made the choice due to the way Wallach worked well with the Marlins’ pitching staff as the Marlins had won nine of 11 games entering the NLDS with him behind the plate.
Wallach hit 1 for 14 with a single in the postseason and 0 for 7 against the Braves in the series.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 6:51 PM.
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