Marlins, with makeshift bullpen and big home run from Alfaro, hold on to beat Dodgers
.JPG "Miami Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro, left, and relief pitcher Anthony Bender celebrate after they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in a baseball game, Monday, July 5, 2021, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)")
As Jorge Alfaro lifted an eighth-inning slider to left-center field for a go-ahead home run on Monday night, Anthony Bender understood the magnitude of the moment.
“That got the blood pumping,” Bender said. “Got the adrenaline going. That was what we needed right there.”
The Marlins also needed a quality inning from Bender’s right arm shortly afterward.
Most of the Marlins’ primary high-leverage relief pitchers were unavailable for Monday’s series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers after being taxed during last weekend’s series against the Braves, stemming in large part from the bullpen having to throw eight innings on Friday after Pablo Lopez was ejected for hitting Ronald Acuna Jr. with his first pitch.
So with a one-run lead, it was up to Bender — a 26-year-old career minor-leaguer who spent the last two years playing in independent baseball leagues and has been a revelation for the Marlins this year — to get the final three outs against the defending World Series champions.
Fifteen pitches later, Bender finished a scoreless ninth inning, recording his first career MLB save as the Marlins defeated the Dodgers 5-4.
“It feels good,” Bender said. “Hasn’t really settled down yet, but I feel good.”
A Jon Berti fielding error on a Justin Turner ground ball was the lone blemish in the inning. From there, Bender got Matt Beaty to hit into a fielder’s choice, struck out Will Smith swinging on an 85.2 mph slider and got Max Muncy to hit into a game-ending flyout.
“That was good,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Anytime you have to run through their guys, you’re running through somebody all the time. You don’t really get a breather. But, yeah, his stuff is good.”
The Marlins (36-47) needed it to be good on Monday with the heavy hitters from the bullpen needing a breather following the series with the Braves.
Richard Bleier threw an inning each game in Atlanta. Dylan Floro threw 63 pitches over two innings Friday and Saturday. Yimi Garcia threw 49 pitches over two innings Saturday and Sunday. Ross Detwiler threw three innings on Friday. Anthony Bass threw on both Saturday and Sunday.
“The card that I see who’s available looked like a Mother’s Day card,” Mattingly said, “because the guys you can’t use are in pink. The effects of the last series really showed up tonight.”
So after Trevor Rogers battled for five innings, holding the Dodgers (53-32) to two earned runs on six hits while striking out eight, Mattingly had to get creative with who he used while trying to protect a two-run lead.
Steven Okert and Zach Pop held the Dodgers scoreless in the sixth and seventh but Pop loaded the bases without recording an out in the eighth.
David Hess, making his Marlins debut, relieved Pop and held the Dodgers to a pair of runs when he walked Gavin Lux and surrendered a sacrifice fly to Cody Bellinger. A walk to Mookie Betts re-loaded the bases but the three Dodgers runners were stranded on a Chris Taylor flyout and AJ Pollock strikeout.
Bender, who struck out eight of the nine batters he faced over three innings in Atlanta last weekend, then recorded that scoreless ninth inning to preserve the one-run lead Alfaro gave him to earn his first save.
“I was locked in the whole game,” Bender said, “the whole way through.”
Alfaro’s home run, his third of the season, went a projected 424 feet to left-center field. Monday was Alfaro’s first multi-hit game since June 18 and also came on the heels of a nine-game stretch in which he had gone 2 for 31 with 16 strikeouts.
“Whenever I step in the box, I’m looking for a pitch I can drive to the middle,” Alfaro said when asked about the home run. “That was it. I wasn’t looking for a specific pitch. I just tried to get on base for my teammates.”
It backed up what the offense did earlier in the game as well. The offense scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the third after Rogers gave up two runs in the top half of the frame.
The rally began with a Starling Marte hit by pitch before the lineup began to attack Dodgers starter Walker Buehler. A Garrett Cooper RBI single drove in Marte, who stole second. Cooper then stole second himself — the first stolen base of his MLB career — and scored after back-to-back singles from Adam Duvall and Miguel Rojas. Jesus Sanchez reached on a fielding error that allowed Duvall to score.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. also drove in Joe Panik with an RBI single in the fourth.
This story was originally published July 5, 2021 at 10:28 PM.
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