Marlins’ season-high winning streak snapped in controversial fashion vs. Twins

The Miami Marlins’ winning streak ended at eight games Wednesday night, and it did so with some controversy.

In the sixth inning of the 2-1 loss to the Twins at loanDepot park, Kyle Stowers appeared to have tied the score with a blistering single off reliever Brock Stewart that scored Jesús Sánchez from second base.

However, the ball struck second base umpire Emil Jimenez on its way into the outfield. Rule 5.06(c)(6) of MLB’s official rule book states, “If a fair ball touches an umpire working in the infield after it has bounded past, or over, the pitcher, it is a dead ball.”

That meant Sánchez was not allowed to advance a base and Stowers was awarded first with a two-out single. Eric Wagaman struck out swinging to end the inning.

“I haven’t seen that kind of play in a long time — probably 15 years. The ball went right at [Jimenez’s] feet,” home plate umpire/crew chief James Hoye told pool reporter Daniel Álvarez-Montes after the game. “It was one of those ‘Which way do you go?’ moments. He tried to get out of the way, but it hit him on the side of the foot.

“By rule, if a ball hits an umpire before it passes any infielder, the ball is dead,” Hoye explained. “Runners only advance if they’re forced. So. in this case, Sánchez had to go back to second, and the batter-runner is awarded first base. There’s no gray area—he has to call time immediately. It doesn’t matter if the ball looked like it could have been a single or not; it’s just a dead ball, by rule.”

Hoye said, “There’s no room for interpretation,” and added, “[Marlins’ manager Clayton McCullough] came out and said, ‘It’s kind of a crappy play.’ and I said, “I agree.’ But that’s the rule, and we have to enforce it.’”

McCullough said of the call afterward: “It’s written that way to make things clean and once it happens, then that’s the decision. It’s just unfortunate [the ball] ended up clipping him. … A foot either way it probably gets through there. Emil did his best to try to get out of the way. Just a tough break.”

Stowers said he was unaware of the rule.

“Probably would have scored. We all saw that,” he said. “But the umpire wasn’t trying to get hit. I hit it hard and he wasn’t able to get out of the way. Bad break there for us, but it is what it is. We had some good at-bats after that, some opportunities to take the lead.”

Stowers’ team-leading 15th home run — a 357-foot shot off Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson to right field in the second inning — accounted for the Marlins’ only run Wednesday.

The Twins scored the decisive run in the fourth with three consecutive hits to open the inning.

Will Castro doubled, Brooks Lee singled to right, and Carlos Correa drove home Castro with an RBI single to left. Junk escaped without further damage, striking out Matt Wallner and inducing a 5-4-3 double play from Ryan Jeffers.

After the controversy in the sixth, the Marlins missed a golden opportunity to even the score in the seventh.

After back-to-back singles by Connor Norby and Dane Myers with one out, Xavier Edwards smacked a single to left field and Marlins’ third base coach Blake Lalli signaled Norby home. It was a costly mistake.

Despite Norby’s elite speed, Harrison Bader’s 94-mph missile beat him easily, and catcher Ryan Jeffers blocked the plate and applied the tag.

“Love the aggressiveness by Blake,” McCullough said. “We’ve seen that all season long. Blake has been very aggressive, and it has led to a lot of runs on our end. Bader just made a good play.”

Pinch-hitter Heriberto Hernández then walked to load the bases, but Otto Lopez’s fly to left was caught at the warning track. Norby singled with one out in the ninth, but the game, and streak ended — one shy of tying the franchise record — when Dane Myers hit into a double play.

“Disappointing the way it finished, and to come up on the losing end,” McCullough said. “We just came up short. It goes that way sometimes. Another really crisp ballgame by us. Hope we continue to play that way. We’ll win more times than not.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ Right-hander Max Meyer, who faces six to eight months of recovery after undergoing successful season-ending left hip labral repair surgery Friday, said Wednesday “it’s really frustrating” for injuries to impact four consecutive seasons.

“I’ve got to figure something out, whether it’s my body or whatever I have to do,” Meyer said, standing in the clubhouse pregame on crutches. “We’ll try to gameplan something in the offseason, whether it’s to take a deep dive into my mechanics or what not. I can do it. I just don’t know how yet. I’m just excited to get back on the mound.”

Meyer, who will remain on crutches for three more weeks, was initially able to play through the pain.

“I never thought it would get to this point, but once I felt the symptoms, I knew something was definitely not great in there, and I was starting to realize everything that could happen,” he said.

▪ With Derek Hill back from the injured list, Dane Myers will continue to get “the bulk of the opportunities” in center field because “he’s played terrific,” McCullough said. “He’s earned that.”

Hill will still see playing time, McCullough added, citing his defensive skills and base-running as assets. Myers started in center Wednesday for the 21st time in the past 24 games.

▪ Stowers extended his hitting streak to nine games and on-base streak to 11 games. He came in batting .393 (11-for-28) with 10 RBIs and four home runs over his previous eight games.

▪ Outfielder Heriberto Hernandez has been taking early work at first base. “Anytime we have an opportunity to create more versatility within a player, within our roster, we’ll look to try to take advantage of that,” McCullough said. “Just taking a look at that to see what potential add that could have for him and us.”