Miami Marlins finally win a game, now they have to do it again

The Miami Marlins finally won a baseball game on Saturday night. Now they’ll need to do a lot more of the the same.

It’s been a downright awful start to the season for the Miami Marlins. Fish fans finally got some relief on Saturday night; a 10-6 victory where the Marlins dictated the narrative throughout.

The win comes one night after the benches cleared and several ejections were issued. There was hope that the altercation would stir the Marlins to action; it appears to have done just that. They’ll need to build on that success going forward.

After weeks of poor run support, the Marlins lineup exploded for 10 runs against the Dodgers in L.A. All with the exception of Christian Yelich recorded at least one hit; though he drew two walks and stung the ball on several occasions.

Dee Gordon logged a multi-hit game, getting the action started with a base hit on the first pitch of the game. J.T. Riddle also contributed three hits, including a home run. He finished the game with four RBI’s; a career high.

The win is encouraging, but it won’t mean much if the Marlins fail to build off of it.

The Miami Marlins did all their scoring in the first five innings, then braced as the Dodgers made their run. After a strong start by Dan Straily, the bullpen surrendered three runs. Straily was tabbed for three earned runs in 5.2 innings and picked up his second win of the season.

Jarlin Garcia, who has pitched well in his rookie campaign, struggled last night. He was credited with all three earned runs that the bullpen surrendered. He was tagged for two home runs and appeared overmatched by veteran Dodger hitters.

Otherwise, the bullpen had one of its better outings of the season. David Phelps and Kyle Barraclough each worked a hitless inning; the eighth and ninth respectively.

Only the beginning

It was a wire-to-wire victory for the Miami Marlins, but they aren’t out of the woods yet. They’ll need to finish the series strong when they play the Dodgers in the finale. The Marlins recently recalled pitcher Vance Worley from AAA to make his first start of the 2017 season. Worley has been effective throughout his MLB career, but has fallen on tough times the last few years.

Last night, everything clicked for the Miami Marlins. It was the kind of game that proves the team is capable of winning on a regular basis. Part of the reason the struggles to start the season have been so frustrating is because of the unrealized potential on the roster.

With a win to end the series, and a two-game series sweep of a struggling Athletics team, the Marlins are back in business. They’ll still be nine games under .500, but they’ll be heading in the right direction.

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They then return home and draw the Angels and Phillies for three games. Taking two-of-three in each of those gives the Marlins a chance to make a run at playing meaningful games again.