Offseason Activities: The 10 Best Marlins Games of 2019

From the end of October through mid-February is a challenging time for fans of major league baseball.

It’s especially challenging for fans of teams who performed poorly in the year prior, like the Marlins in 2019. Going 57-105 can be tough on a fanbase, and with the worst broadcast deal in major league baseball as well as the lowest attendance from amongst the 30 teams, the Marlins have an uphill climb indeed when it comes to gaining a larger fanship.

With no baseball to watch, I did a little research into the Marlins 162 games last season, paying special attention to their 57 victories. Finding the “best 10” Marlins games of the season started with a formula, and ended with a more subjective point-of-view.

I started by adding up the collective WPA+ from each game, from each team, pitching and hitting. This returned totals ranging from 0.67 all the way up to 6.73. I then divided the WPA+ in each game by the amount of innings played, and multiplied the result by nine. I then eliminated all of the Marlins losses, then added in a few of their more standout pitching performances of the season. I think the result is a pretty good representation of the better things we like to see in our team.

The offseason is a good time to check out the MLB.COM’s archive of baseball games, and I think the ten games highlighted here is as good a way to waste your time as any. While we wait for the Marlins to report to Spring Training in about six weeks, we can always check out their best from last year.

St. Louis Cardinals (33-32) at Miami Marlins (23-42)

Jordan Yamamoto joined the Marlins system along with Lewis Brinson, Isan Diaz, and Monte Harrison in the deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for Christian Yelich. Considered a “throw in” at the time, Yamamoto may yet to be the crown jewel of the transaction in the end.

Yamamoto had gone 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA across three levels of the Marlins minor league system, between the GCL Marlins, the Jupiter Hammerheads, and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in 2018. He gave up 43 hits in 68 2/3 innings, striking out 85 while issuing only 14 walks for a 0.830 WHIP.

Called up from the Jumbo Shrimp for the start against the Cardinals for his major league debut on June 12th, Yamamoto performed even better than advertised. He pitched seven innings, getting 61-of-95 offerings over the plate and surrendering three hits and two walks while striking out five.

Nick Anderson followed with a perfect eighth, and Tayron Guerrero walked one in an otherwise perfect ninth.

Offensively, the Marlins were led by a three-for-five games from Garrett Cooper, including a second-inning grand slam for his sixth homer of the season. Curtis Granderson launched his seventh, a three-run shot in the eighth. Brian Anderson and Miguel Rojas each collected a pair of hits in the eventual 9-0 victory for the Marlins.

Miami Marlins (9-24) at Chicago Cubs (19-12)

The Cubs welcomed Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara with an Anthony Rizzo two-run shot and a Willson Contreras RBI-single in the first inning. That score held until the third inning, when Brian Anderson drove home Miguel Rojas with a double, and Martin Prado scored on a Starlin Castro sacrifice fly to cut the lead down to one.

In the sixth inning, Marlins surprise rookie Jon Berti tied the score with a solo home run, his first career homer. Unfortunately, relief pitcher Nick Anderson surrendered the lead back to the Cubs on a Kyle Schwarber single to score Contreras.

Drew Steckenrider and Adam Conley each followed with a scoreless inning of relief. In the top of the ninth inning, Rosell Herrera drew a bases-loaded walk from Cubs reliever Pedro Strop to take Miami’s first lead of the game. Berti scored on a Rojas groundout, then Neil Walker crossed the plate on a wacky inning-ending double-play.

The bottom of the ninth would see Sergio Romo surrender a solo home run to Kris Bryant, but also struck out the side for his sixth save of the season. The Marlins took home just their 10th victory of the season with a 6-5 win.

Miami Marlins (32-54) at Atlanta Braves (53-36)

The Marlins weren’t very good against anyone last season, but they had an especially rough time with the Atlanta Braves. Nineteen contests in common between the two clubs resulted in only four wins for Miami. It’s only natural then, that half of those wins would be featured in the Marlins 10 best games of the season.

The Braves jumped on Marlins starter Caleb Smith early when Ronald Acuna tagged him with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first. Freddie Freeman added an RBI groundout to score Ozzie Albies later in the frame. Harold Ramirez answered for the Marlins in the next half-inning with his third tater of the year to halve the Braves lead.

Undeterred, Austin Riley reestablished Atlanta’s two-run lead in the bottom of the second with his 16th home run. Starlin Castro then connected on his sixth of the season to get it back down to one.

Nick Markakis doubled home Ozzie Albies in the third to make it 4-2, Bravos, but Smith settled down after that and actually finished with both a Quality Start and a victory. One of the four runs he allowed was unearned, and he lasted six innings while striking out six.

The Braves lead lasted until the fifth inning. Jorge Alfaro hit a one-out double to score Garrett Cooper, then Yadiel Rivera added a two-run single to score Castro and Alfaro to give the Marlins a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish.

Austin Brice, Nick Anderson, and Sergio Romo pitched a scoreless inning each, although each of them surrendered at least one hit. Romo earned his 16th save of the year, and got traded away near the end of the month.

Philadelphia Phillies (66-60) at Miami Marlins (45-81)

A nine inning game that lasts over four hours will often see a higher than normal score, or at least a rain delay. In total on August 23rd last season, thirty runners crossed the plate. In contrast to their (lack of) success against the Braves, the Marlins actually posted a winning record against Philadelphia in 2019, going 10-9.

The Phils touched Marlins starter Hector Noesi for seven runs in his first three innings before Miami managed getting on the board. In the bottom of third, the Marlins struck back. Brian Anderson was HBP with the bases loaded, followed by an RBI-single from Garrett Cooper, a two-run-single from Harold Ramirez, and a three-run shot courtesy of Isan Diaz to tie it at seven.

Although the Marlins had gamely fought all the way back, reliever Wei-Yin Chen promptly coughed the lead back up to the Phillies in the fourth inning. He allowed two runs on three hits and a walk, getting only two outs. Tyler Kinley came in to finish the inning, and ended up with the victory when it was all over.

The Marlins scored two on a Brad Miller error in the fifth, then followed with a Neil Walker two-run-single and a Curtis Granderson RBI-single to make it 12-9. In the sixth, Lewis Brinson added an RBI-single and Starlin Castro connected for a two-run shot, his 12th of the season to make it 15-9.

Although it was already all over but the crying, the Marlins scored four more in the eighth, on a Brinson RBI-single, another Castro two-run shot, and Jon Berti’s fifth of the season.

The Phillies scored two in the ninth, but that was way too little, way too late. When the dust settled, it was 19-11, the Good Guys.

San Diego Padres (46-49) at Miami Marlins (35-58)

On July 18th, the Marlins hosted the Padres and 21,149 at Marlins Park. San Diego struck first, on an Austin Hedges RBI-sacrifice-fly in the second inning off Caleb Smith. Smith got that one back himself in the bottom of the inning, on a run-scoring bunt and a Hedges error.

Later in the inning, the Marlins took the lead on a Neil Walker run-scoring double. Harold Ramirez added a run to the lead in the fourth inning with a leadoff shot for his fourth of the season.

But the Padres weren’t quite ready to just fade away in this one. They got to Smith once more in the fifth on a Fernando Tatis solo home run. In the sixth, San Diego tied it when Tayron Guerrero gave up a run on a hit and a pair of walks. Jarlin Garcia came on in relief and stranded both of Guerrero’s runners.

Nick Anderson came on for two innings, striking out five and giving up only an eighth-inning, two-out triple. After a perfect ninth from Sergio Romo, Brian Anderson walked them off with an RBI-double to score Yadiel Rivera.

The walkoff win was the first of the season for Miami, although they would finish with a total of five.

New York Mets (20-24) at Miami Marlins (12-31)

Another study in contrasts from the prior page, the game the Marlins and Mets played on May 19th was the shortest of the year at one hour and 59 minutes. That was due to the dominant pitching of Sandy Alcantara.

Alcantara tossed the complete game, the first of his career. He was able to do this partly because he somehow finished off the whole nine innings on only 89 pitches, 55 for strikes. He walked one batter and surrendered only two singles, both to Mets third baseman J.D. Davis.

Toeing the rubber for the Mets was six-foot-six flamethrower Noah Syndergaard, who matched zeroes with Alcantara through the first five innings. In the sixth, Miami got on the board on a Curtis Granderson double play ball (no RBI). After the Mets kept him in the game, they got to him again in the seventh on a Miguel Rojas RBI-sacrifice-fly.

Granderson added some insurance in the eighth on a solo homer off Mets reliever Seth Lugo. His fifth long-shot of the year, it gave Miami the eventual final lead of 3-0.

Alcantara, who was the lone Marlins representative at the mid-season classic, racked up another shutout on September 8th in a 9-0 win against the Kansas City Royals. He was one of only three pitchers in the majors to toss two shutouts in 2019, and the only pitcher in the National League to turn the trick.

Miami Marlins (2-6) at Atlanta Braves (4-3)

Just into the new season, on Sandy Alcantara’s second start of the year, the Marlins surprised the Braves with a late rally.

Freddie Freeman doubled in Ender Inciarte in the first inning to get to Sandy early. Dansby Swanson doubled the lead in the fourth when he doubled Johan Camargo home. Alcantara only lasted four innings, striking out zero and walking five along with four hits.

In the fifth inning, the Marlins got to Braves starter Kyle Wright, on solo home runs from Jorge Alfaro and Peter O’Brien, their second and first of the year, respectively.

Tayron Guerrero, Nick Anderson, and Drew Steckenrider each tossed scoreless innings, followed by Sergio Romo, who earned the victory with 1 1/3 innings of perfect work. In the top of the ninth inning, score still tied at two, Alfaro connected for his third of the season and second of the game for two runs. Adam Conley came in to close the door, despite allowing a pair of baserunners in getting the last two outs.

Unfortunately, this victory didn’t give Miami quite the shot-in-the-arm we were hoping for. They went on to lose 24 of their next 31 contests before going on a relative hot-streak in June.

Miami Marlins (48-88) at Pittsburgh Pirates (60-77)

A leadoff home run by Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier greeted Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara for an early lead. The Marlins later took the lead on a Colin Moran error that scored two unearned in the fourth.

Miami added a run to their lead in the fifth on a Garrett Cooper RBI-double off Pirates reliever Geoff Hartlieb, but it was far from over. In the bottom of the inning, Frazier came through again for the Bucs with a two-run single, but he got thrown out trying to make it into a double by a nice Cooper fielding play in right field.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates seemed to put it away when Jason Martin scored on a Jarlin Garcia wild pitch, but Miguel Rojas drove a solo shot out of the park with two out to tie the game at four in the top of the ninth.

Tyler Kinley and Adam Conley combined to throw a scoreless ninth inning, and Conley was credited with the eventual win. The 10th would see Cooper come through with his 13th long-ball of the season to give the Marlins the 5-4 lead, and Jose Urena pitched a perfect 10th inning for his first save of the season and only the second of his career.

Miami Marlins (26-46) at St. Louis Cardinals (38-35)

June 20th was the setting for Zac Gallen‘s first career start. Incidentally, it was against his former team in the St. Louis Cardinals. Gallen joined the Marlins organization along with Sandy Alcantara, Daniel Castano, and Magneuris Sierra for Marcell Ozuna after the 2017 campaign. He held the Redbirds to one run and struck out six in five innings of work.

Starlin Castro opened the scoring in the fourth inning, scoring Garrett Cooper on a double into center field. The Cards got that one back in the fifth when Paul DeJong doubled home Adam Wainwright against Gallen.

In the sixth, the Marlins got to Wainwright once more for a 2-1 lead on a Brian Anderson double to score Miguel Rojas. Later in the inning Cesar Puello got an RBI the painful way, with a bases loaded HBP courtesy of Cards reliever Giovanny Gallegos.

Not content with a two-run cushion, Rojas scored Curtis Granderson on a single in the seventh for a 4-1 advantage. In the bottom of the inning, the Cardinals got to Marlins reliever Nick Anderson on a Paul Goldschmidt RBI-double and an Ozuna RBI-single.

In the eighth, Brian Anderson got to new Cards pitcher John Brebbia with a leadoff homer, his ninth of the year.

More from Marlins History

• Miami Marlins One-Year Wonder 1B
• Miami Marlins players & the 2023 Hall of Fame
• Former Miami Marlins star is retiring
• Gary Sheffield or Mark Buehrle, will either Marlin make the Hall of Fame?
• Why don’t we see more dynasties? Part 3

Now with a 5-3 lead, the Marlins trusted Tayron Guerrero to get through the eighth. He allowed a leadoff single to Harrison Bader and a two-run homer to Tommy Edman before locking in to retire the next three batters. Still, the damage was done with the game now tied at five.

After scoreless ninth and 10th innings, JT Riddle got to former Marlins pitcher Andrew Miller with a two-run homer for a 7-5 lead. Sergio Romo came on to close it out. After a few speed bumps, including a Yadier Molina RBI-double, Romo earned his 13th save of the year.

Thanks for reading. Happy New Year.