Marlins throttle Red Sox 14-6 behind 10-run inning, J.T. Realmuto’s big day

Although a majority were rooting on the visitors from Boston, the Marlins sure put on a show for the home crowd on Wednesday afternoon.

Miami scored 10 runs in the sixth inning — a franchise-record five off the bat of rookie catcher J.T. Realmuto — as the Marlins cruised to a 14-6 victory over the Red Sox.

“Today definitely felt good; it was fun out there,” Realmuto said. “It was nice for the offense to get started early. We kind of fed off that.”

The Marlins, who have won three in a row, won both games in the two-game series with the Red Sox after Boston swept Miami in two at Fenway Park last month.

Dee Gordon led things off for Miami with his first out-of-the-park home run of the season. The Marlins in the dugout, rumored to be on the advice of manager Dan Jennings, gave Miami’s speedy leadoff man the silent treatment upon his return.

Gordon reacted by sprinting into the clubhouse tunnel in jest.

“I didn’t know it was going over, but that felt good,” said Gordon, who later made fun of his own home run trot.

David Ortiz tied it in the second with a blast to right that didn’t land until it bounced off the 10th row of the cheap seats in the upper deck.

“Some of those you’re upset about,” starting pitcher Adam Conley said, “and some you’re just impressed with.”

Ortiz later sent a screamer over the right-field wall in the seventh, but with the Marlins up 10 at the time it didn’t do much damage.

Miami led 4-1 after a three-run second before Boston tied it with one run in the fourth and two in the fifth. After a scoreless top of the sixth, the Marlins posted a 10-run, 10-hit bottom of the inning in which 13 batters came to the plate and three Boston pitchers were used.

The Marlins got it started with consecutive singles from Justin Bour and Cole Gillespie. Realmuto broke the tie with a single to right, with Ichiro Suzuki making it 7-4 after he lined a shot past Ortiz at first that ended up bounding into the right-field corner.

The Marlins weren’t done as they put up seven more runs, capped by Realmuto’s bases-clearing blast into the left-field seats.

“What a heck of a day he had swinging the bat like that,” Jennings said. “He had a grand slam, six RBI. That’s huge. And he was good behind the plate. That’s a complete performance.”

Realmuto set or tied four franchise records on Wednesday: Most triples (7) in a single season by a catcher, tying Benito Santiago’s mark set in the 1993 expansion year; most RBI (5) in an inning; most RBI by a catcher (6) in a single game (Charles Johnson, 1995); and most hits (3) by a rookie catcher (Johnson, ’95). Realmuto was a double short of the cycle, which would have been a franchise first.

He came to the plate in the eighth looking for that elusive two-bagger and struck out on a 3-2 offering he would have let go in any other situation.

“I went up there with the intention that I was going to swing no matter what,” Realmuto said. “I think they knew that. It just didn’t work out.”

 

THE FAB FOUR

In the fourth inning Wednesday, the Marlins honored Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sheffield, Jeff Conine and Mike Lowell, who were selected by fans earlier this season as the organization’s Franchise Four.

Among those who watched from the opposing dugout: Hanley Ramirez, who somehow didn’t even make the Marlins’ top eight finalists despite having his name all over the franchise record book. Ramirez is also the only player in club history voted to start in three All-Star games.

Jennings defended the four who were chosen.

“The fact that Sheffield could truly go in as the first Marlins Hall of Famer — look at his numbers — and then what Lowell meant to this organization,” said Jennings, a part of the organization since 2002.

“Hey, Mr. Marlin [Conine], he’s got to be in there right? He is Mount Rushmore. He’s the first one. It’s a tough decision. It was for every organization.”

▪ The Marlins gave Christian Yelich (bruised left knee) another day off Wednesday and are hoping he will be back in the lineup Friday in St. Louis.

Coming up

▪ Thursday: Off day.

▪ Friday: Marlins RHP Tom Koehler (8-9, 3.75 ERA) at St. Louis Cardinals TBA, 8:15 p.m., Busch Stadium.

This story was originally published August 12, 2015 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Marlins throttle Red Sox 14-6 behind 10-run inning, J.T. Realmuto’s big day."