Jordan Yamamoto, Garrett Cooper Heroic in Miami Marlins Win

The Miami Marlins topped the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-0 to break a six-game losing streak and salvage the last game of the three-game set.

Seven-thousand-and-one were in attendance to witness the major league debut of Jordan Yamamoto, the Miami Marlins 17th ranked prospect. Yamamoto was considered the “throw in” in the Christian Yelich deal with the Milwaukee Brewers prior to the 2018 season. He arrived along with outfielder Lewis Brinson, outfielder Monte Harrison, and second baseman Isan Diaz.

Brinson’s struggles at the major league level with the Miami Marlins are well documented. He’s hit .199 in 136 games for Miami, with 11 home runs and 46 RBI along with 148 strikeouts. Since taking six weeks with the triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes, he’s responded by hitting .277/.369/.454 with five round-trippers and 26 RBI in 36 games. Harrison is hitting .288/.386/.472 in 43 games, with seven homers and 19 stolen bases in 20 tries. Diaz is hitting .284/.371/.529 with 14 homers and 40 RBI in 62 contests.

Yamamoto was the only one of the four to start the season below the triple-A level, with the double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Tonight, he got his shot at the majors a little earlier than expected. Over seven innings, he put 61-of-95 over the plate, struck out five Cardinals, and gave up zero runs on three hits and a pair of walks. In the process, he won his major league debut with a Quality Start, and his 77 GameScore was the second highest on the Marlins over the past 50 games, only to Sandy Alcantara‘s complete-game two-hit shutout against the New York Mets on May 19th.

Nick Anderson and Tayron Guerrero each pitched a scoreless inning to preserve the shutout, each striking out a batter and neither surrendering a hit. Guerrero did walk one.

Brian Anderson opened the scoring in the first inning, driving Garrett Cooper home on a ground ball-single through the middle of the infield. It was all the offense the Miami Marlins needed to secure a victory – but they didn’t know that at the time.

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In the second inning, Martin Prado and Miguel Rojas opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Bryan Holaday was safe on a force play and Yamamoto sac-bunted him to second. Curtis Granderson then drew a walk to load the bases. Cooper followed with his sixth round-tripper of the season, a Grand Slam into left-center field.

Yamamoto added an insurance run with a second successful sacrifice bunt in the sixth, bringing Rojas home. Granderson hit a three-run shot in the eighth to set the final score. Cooper went three-for-five to lead the offense, also hitting a triple, while Rojas and Anderson each hit a pair of singles.

After playing games nine-days-in-a-row, the Miami Marlins get a well-deserved day off tomorrow. They’ll continue their home stand with a three-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates starting on Friday night.

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