Rain suspends Marlins-Phillies in extra innings after Miami’s ninth-inning comeback
The Miami Marlins will have to wait until Sunday to try to finish off their comeback win against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Marlins scored two runs in the ninth inning to force extras before a downpour forced MLB to suspend the game until Sunday. Miami will finish the game at 1 p.m. in Philadelphia before it plays the finale of a four-game series against the Phillies.
Storms were in the forecast all day for Philadelphia, and the Marlins and Phillies nearly avoided them, with only a short 25-minute rain delay interrupting the game in the fifth inning. After Miami’s ninth-inning comeback, a downpour began in the top of the 10th, sending those left of the 21,390 at Citizens Bank park scrambling for cover in the concourse and triggering a second rain delay.
Utility infielder Jon Berti was at the plate at the time of the delay, facing a 1-1 count with no outs in the top of the 10th. Catcher Sandy Leon was on second base as the designated runner.
The delay came just minutes after the Marlins staged a ninth-inning comeback, tying the game 2-2 and forcing extra innings.
Miami had only three hits through eight innings until Starling Marte came to the plate to lead off the ninth. The outfielder smacked a single to right for his second hit of the game and brought Jesus Aguilar to the plate as the tying run. On the second pitch of the at-bat, the first baseman dug at a low changeup and clubbed it over the left-field fence to tie the game.
“It gave us a shot,” Mattingly said. “We’ll start tomorrow in extra innings.”
Relief pitcher Richard Bleier threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the frame to send the game into a 10th inning.
The earlier rain delay was actually fortuitous for the Marlins. Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez vexed Miami for five innings, holding the Marlins to one hit before the short delay prematurely knocked him out of the game after only 83 pitches. Philadelphia had to turn to its bullpen, which has one of the 10 worst ERAs in MLB, and it finally coughed up the lead in the ninth after skating through three shutout innings.
Miami will start Sunday by facing the bullpen. Philadelphia relief pitcher Jose Alvarado was on the mound at the time of the delay.
Marlins place Lopez on IL
Miami has kept up the slim hope of surging back into contention before the July 30 trade deadline because of its starting pitching. Trevor Rogers was an All-Star this year. Sandy Alcantara was an All-Star in 2019 and leads the NL in innings pitched. Pablo Lopez has quietly put together one of the league’s best resumes with a 3.03 ERA, 111 strikeouts and only 25 walks in 101 innings. The Marlins have the second best run differential in the NL East largely because those three keep the vast majority of games close.
Miami’s slim margin for error got even slimmer Saturday, though, when it placed Lopez on the 10-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain. Lopez was slated to start the series finale Sunday in Philadelphia, but now the Marlins, who are already typically throwing one bullpen game per turn through rotation, will have to find a replacement as they sit 8 1/2 games out of first place with 13 days until the trade deadline.
Miami will call up a starting pitcher Sunday, Mattingly said, although he didn’t say who it will be.
“It’ll be somebody on our roster, I’ll tell you that,” he said.
Starting pitcher Braxton Garrett is the most likely option after starting two games earlier this year.
The severity of Lopez’s injury, meanwhile, is still to be determined.
Lopez first started experience discomfort while throwing long toss Friday, so Mattingly is hopeful the team caught it early enough to keep Lopez from missing significant time.
“It was a little bit of a surprise,” Mattingly said. “Hopefully, he catches it early where it’s just a little strain.”
With Lopez now on the IL, Miami is missing three starting pitchers it expected to be part of the starting rotation at the beginning of the year. Sixto Sanchez, who was expected to compete for an MLB Rookie of the Year Award, has not pitched at all this year — and will not pitch — as he has battled an ultimately season-ending shoulder injury. Elieser Hernandez has made only two appearances this season because of a pair of injuries and won’t be eligible to come off the 60-day IL until next month, although he did begin his bullpen progression Friday.
In Lopez’s place, the Marlins activated John Curtiss from the 10-day IL. The pitcher had been out since July 4 because of neck stiffness and tossed a scoreless inning of relief Saturday. There’s no obvious option for Miami to use as a starter Sunday after rookie pitcher Jordan Holloway pitched five innings Friday as the 27th man for a doubleheader, then got sent back to Triple A Jacksonville.
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Up next
The Marlins wrap up their four-game series in Philadelphia on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Lopez was originally slated to start for against All-Star starting pitcher Zach Wheeler, but Miami will have to find a replacement.
The Marlins are holding off on using Rogers, their All-Star and frontrunner for the NL Rookie of the Year Award, until Monday against the Washington Nationals so they can manage the 23-year-old pitcher’s innings down the stretch.
This story was originally published July 17, 2021 at 4:57 PM.
