‘Titanic song’ gives Marlins rally cry, perspective as they end scoring slump in win over Pirates
The Miami Marlins huddled together inside the visiting team clubhouse at PNC Park on Friday prior to their series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
They needed to get out of an offensive funk that reached franchise-record historic lows and put them in danger of falling out of the playoff race with the trade deadline less than two weeks away.
But they also, according to shortstop Miguel Rojas, needed perspective.
So out of the speaker came Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” — or “the Titanic song,” as Rojas preferred to call it while citing the 1997 romance movie staring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet based on the real-life boat crash that occurred in 1912.
“It could have been worse,” Rojas said. “I think If I’m fighting for my life in that boat, that’s worse than just not scoring for 37 innings. ... That was the mentality I took today into the game.”
It’s a bit of a dramatic perspective-setter, yes.
But, at least for one night, it worked.
In the fourth inning on Friday, after failing to put up a run in the 37 innings that preceded it, the Marlins scored runs — with a Rojas RBI double ending the scoreless streak and starting a needed breakout game for the offense in an 8-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Every starting position player reached base at least once. Eight had at least one hit (Joey Wendle had a three-hit night, while Jesus Aguilar, Avisail Garcia and Miguel Rojas had multi-hit efforts). Seven had at least one run scored or one RBI, with Jesus Sanchez and Garcia each scoring twice, Nick Fortes recording three RBI and Wendle having two RBI of his own.
“We have an opportunity to make a push,” Rojas said. “Any team can get hot. There’s an extra spot in the wild card and we’re still hunting. We’re not going to stop believing and I think this group right here, we know where we are offensively and we know we need to get better, but at the same time, we have the hope that we can actually get hot and make a run here.”
Whether the Marlins are near or far (or wherever they are) in the wild card race — the win Friday puts Miami at 44-49 on the season and five games out of the third National League wild card spot — they need to find a way to ensure Friday’s showing wasn’t just a blip on the radar.
After all, Miami entered Friday having been shut out for 34 consecutive innings. By failing to put up a run in the first three innings on Friday against Pittsburgh, the Marlins tied their franchise record with 37 consecutive innings without a run scored — matching the mark set exactly nine years ago on July 22, 2013 (the scoreless streak that year started on July 14).
“Right now,” third baseman Brian Anderson said pregame Friday, “we just need that one big hit just to kind of get us rolling.”
Little did Anderson know that he would be the one to start the rally that would end Miami’s streak of futility.
Anderson led off the fourth inning with a groundball single to the right side that deflected off second baseman Diego Castillo’s glove and into right field. A Garcia single to right put runners on first and second before Rojas hit a double to left field to score Anderson and give Miami its first run since the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 15.
“I was even screaming when I rounded the bases,” Anderson said. “And then getting to the dugout, everyone was just excited. We all knew it was coming at some point.”
And then, the Marlins kept piling on.
After a Jorge Soler groundout, Garcia scored on a wild pitch to give Miami a 2-1 lead. Sanchez walked to put runners on the corners, Fortes hit an RBI groundout to score Rojas and Joey Wendle hit a single to center field to score Sanchez to cap scoring in the inning.
It was the first time the Marlins scored four runs in an inning since a four-run third inning against the Colorado Rockies on June 22.
Miami scored three more runs in the sixth on a Fortes two-run single and a Wendle double.
Garcia added a solo home run in the seventh inning, ending another dubious Marlins streak of nine consecutive games without a home run — also a mark that was tied for the longest in franchise history.
.JPG "MarlinsPiratesBaseball (1).JPG")
The offense backed up yet another strong start from Braxton Garrett.
The 24-year-old lefty held the Pirates (39-55) to one earned run on two hits and a walk while striking out seven over six innings. Garrett threw 79 pitches, 58 of which went for strikes. The only run he allowed was a solo home run to Jason Delay in the third inning.
The only time Garrett looked out of sorts came in the first inning when he gave up a leadoff walk to Kevin Newman and infield single to Ke’Bryan Hayes. He got out of the jam without allowing a run by recording three consecutive strikeouts to Michael Chavis, Yoshi Tsutsugo and Diego Castillo. Garrett was at 28 pitches by the time he left the mound.
After the Delay home run, Garrett retired the final 12 batters he faced.
In four July starts, Garrett has a 1.80 ERA, allowing just five earned runs on 11 hits and five walks while striking out 25 over 25 innings. Four of the five runs he has allowed have been on home runs.
Steven Okert, Dylan Floro and Anthony Bass pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to round out the win.
Time will tell if the Marlins are able to follow it up. Miami plays the Pirates again at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.
“That’s the big thing,” Rojas said, “knowing that we scored eight runs today but we have to start 0-0 again tomorrow and do the same thing over again.”
But for at least one night, after a week yearning for any sort of results, the Marlins’ offense showed up.
Their playoff pursuit, while still an uphill climb, will go on.
This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 9:47 PM.
.JPG)