Miami Marlins Win Fourth Series in a Row

Since starting the season with a 5-17 record, the Miami Marlins have reeled off wins in 8-of-11 contests. With a more respectable 13-20 record, they’re now off to take on the Chicago Cubs.

The Beginning

The Miami Marlins scored twice before the Cincinnati Reds recorded a single out. Starting pitcher Dan Straily actually had his first plate appearance before throwing a pitch.

J.T. Realmuto opened the game with a walk, and Martin Prado got to base on a bad fielding choice by 3B Eugenio Suarez. With two in scoring position, Starlin Castro knocked them both in with a single to left. It marked his 14th and 15th RBI of the season for the Miami Marlins, good for second on the club.

After a Brian Anderson walk, Justin Bour moved the runners over with a 4-3 groundout. Cameron Maybin scored Castro on a single to left, and Lewis Brinson added an RBI-groundout for a 4-0 lead (more on Brinson, here). For the first time in his career and on his 115th plate appearance, Yadiel Rivera was intentionally walked to get to Straily. Straily struck out on four pitches, then took the mound for his turn. Maybin is actually the nicest guy on the planet.

Straily got two outs before letting Joey Votto hit a single and walking Scooter Gennett. Suarez grounded out to Rivera to strand the two runners.

Realmuto opened the second with a double into left field, then moved to third on Prado’s groundout. Castro collected another RBI when he sac-flied in Realmuto. Straily collected a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the frame, and didn’t allow a baserunner.

Third Inning

The Miami Marlins went down 1-2-3 in the third inning. Straily induced Billy Hamilton to ground out and Jose Peraza to fly out before the Reds challenged in the bottom of the inning. Jesse Winker walked, then Votto (5) hit a moon-shot to left-center field to get the Reds within three runs.

Straily and Realmuto both collected singles in the fourth inning, but were stranded on a Prado strikeout and a Castro groundout. Straily allowed two more baserunners in the bottom of the inning, but got Peraza to line out to strand two more.

The game was then interrupted for one hour and 13 minutes for a rain delay. This is the Marlins only trip to the Great American Ballpark this season, and the final game of the series. As such, it was a foregone conclusion that they would play this game complete.

Middle Innings

In the fifth inning, Reds reliever David Hernandez struck out Anderson, Bour, and Brinson, hitting Maybin with a pitch in the process. After sitting for the delay, Don Mattingly decided to be cautious with Straily, and cycled in Nick Wittgren. Wittgren got Winker to ground out then struck out Votto and Gennett.

In the sixth, Realmuto drew a walk to reach base for the fourth time in the game. Wittgren got two more strikeouts in the bottom of the inning, allowing a single to Tucker Barnhart.

The seventh inning would see the Marlins strike for a run on Maybin’s one-out double, scoring Castro. Castro had reached with a leadoff single. Rivera later in the inning drew a walk. In the middle of all that, Kevin Shackelford and Amir Garrett combined to strike out the side.

Votto doubled in Hamilton in the bottom of the inning to trail, 6-3.

The End

Realmuto and Castro struck out in the eighth for Miami. Cincinnati only got one baserunner against Kyle Barraclough, on another Barnhart single.

Miami got eight hitters to the dish in the ninth inning. Anderson drew a walk and Bour singled him to third before Maybin struck out. Miguel Rojas then singled to score Anderson for a 7-3 advantage. Rivera then hit a rare single to load the bases. JB Shuck reached base and scored Bour on a fielding error by Suarez. Prado grounded out to end the inning, and was 0-for-6 for the day.

Junichi Tazawa took the hill for the Reds half of the ninth, and decided to make things interesting for Miami. He walked Hamilton and surrendered a double to Peraza. After a Winker RBI-groundout, he allowed Votto another RBI, on a single. Votto had four of Cincinnati’s five RBI in the game.

Mattingly had seen enough out of Tazawa, and replaced him with Brad Ziegler. Ziggy got Gennett to ground into a force play, but Rivera threw the ball away and allowed Gennett to get to second. Rivera committed an error on the next play as well, allowing Suarez to reach and Gennett to get to third base. Scott Schebler came up next representing the tying run, but Ziegler struck him out on a full count to nail down his fourth save of the year.

Afterthoughts

Wittgren struck out four in two scoreless innings, and lowered his ERA to 1.00. He’s now 1-0 for the season, and is 8-4 through his major league career. Eight wins moves him into a 14-way tie for 65th on Miami’s leaderboard, with Wei-Yin Chen, Taylor Tankersley, and Jacob Turner.

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Tayron Guerrero pitched the seventh and allowed a run for the first time since April 13th. He did strike another batter out, and now has 30 in 16 1/3 innings.

As noted above, Prado finished 0-for-6. He did reach base on an error, but left eight runners on base.

Castro was 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs and is now hitting .315 for the season.

Rojas, who had hit .151 over his last 15 games, collected a hit in a pinch-appearance to raise his average to .240.

Straily’s hit was his first of the season and fifth since joining the team. This puts him in a 16-way tie for 243rd on Miami’s career leaderboard, along with Marlin luminaries Christian Colon, Brad Hand, and Mike Piazza.

Next: Power at the Plate and on the Hill Key Marlins Win

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