Jesus Sanchez robs game-tying grand slam in ninth inning as Marlins beat Mariners
Jesus Sanchez knew what was at stake as the ball flew off Eugenio Suarez’s bat and sailed toward him in right field. If it kept carrying, the ninth-inning swing could have undone everything the Miami Marlins had done on Wednesday as they tried to avoid a series sweep against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
With the bases loaded and Suarez representing the game-tying run with one out, he was already playing deep, trying to keep the ball in front of him, but Sanchez found himself drifting back ... and back ... and back some more until he was up against the wall.
And then, he jumped.
“When I felt the glove, it was heavy,” Sanchez said. “I knew there that I made the catch.”
It wasn’t just any catch.
Sanchez robbed Suarez of a game-tying grand slam, limiting him to a sacrifice fly instead. A.J. Puk got Cal Raleigh to line out to Sanchez in right three pitches later to secure Miami’s 4-1 win over Seattle.
“It was just fun to see,” Puk said of Sanchez’s catch. “I was in the moment there. It was an exciting play. Definitely happy that it worked out.”
According to Statcast, the ball went a projected 372 feet to right field with a 30-degree launch angle and a 98.1 mph exit velocity. Based on the metrics, Suarez’s fly ball should be a home run in 11 ballparks — including T-Mobile Park.
But Sanchez was in the right place and made the right timing on his jump to stop that from happening on Wednesday.
“I didn’t love it when it was hit off the bat because he’s got real power, especially the other way,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who was teammates with Suarez in 2015 when they played for the Cincinnati Reds. “But I saw Sanchez kind of timing it up. I didn’t know if it was going to be robbed or not, but I knew he had a chance. Great job by him pulling it back. It was a good at-bat. Thank God he got out.”
Added Sanchez: “I knew the importance of that at-bat. When I saw the hit, I thought ‘I have to make this play.’ If I don’t make it, we’re going to keep playing, so I have to make it.”
And he did, eliciting a slew of reactions from his teammates.
“It was a little scary at first because he went back and he kind of stood there for a while,” said center fielder Jonathan Davis, who made a pair of big catches of his own in addition to scoring a run in the third and logging a sacrifice fly in the eighth. “And then I saw him jump up and I was like ‘OK then!’ Just bringing the ball back, it was cool and I was excited for him just to make that play.”
Added starting pitcher Eury Perez, who was in the clubhouse after throwing six shutout innings: “I got a little scared when I saw it, to be honest, but the excitement ... I was overwhelmed when I saw that he was able to make that catch.”
And designated hitter Jorge Soler, speaking on the Bally Sports Florida broadcast after hitting his 20th home run of the season: “He made an incredible play. He saved us all. For me, he won the game.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2023 at 1:43 AM.
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