Big sixth inning fuels Miami Marlins’ series-opening win over Philadelphia Phillies
In the moment, it was a seven-run inning. It was a rare highlight of offense for a team at the bottom of its division near the end of a lost season.
To Miguel Rojas, though, it has the chance to mean much more than that in the grand scheme of the Miami Marlins’ future.
“It’s a boost of confidence and energy for the rest of the year,” Rojas said following the Marlins’ 10-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, a win secured because of that seven-run outburst. “Actually you can pick up a lot of momentum from that inning and the confidence that we can do it and we get scored those runs. Something that I’m seeing that we lack lately is like those comebacks that we were doing in the early in the year and winning games later. We did that very well, and now it’s not the same.”
Miami (56-79) sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning, recording six hits and three walks against three Phillies pitchers.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached base twice, first with a leadoff triple and later with a two-out walk. Rojas had two singles in the inning, driving in three runs. Jesus Aguilar, Jorge Alfaro and Joe Panik all recorded RBI singles, while Bryan De La Cruz added a bases-loaded walk.
Jesus Sanchez added a three-run home run in the first inning, his third consecutive home game with a home run.
Rojas reached base four times total with three hits and a walk. Chisholm and Sanchez both reached base three times.
Jesus Luzardo held the Phillies to three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three in 5 2/3 innings.
This and that
▪ Relief pitcher Zach Pop threw a scoreless eighth inning in his first appearance since coming off the injured list with right middle finger soreness. He got Jean Segura and Bryce Harper to ground out and J.T. Realmuto to line out to Rojas at shortstop.
▪ Zach Thompson, whose first 13 appearances with the Marlins were as a starter, pitched the ninth inning.
▪ Trevor Rogers will start on Saturday, his first start since July 31.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 10:18 PM.
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