Marlins celebrate return with shutout victory
Miami comes back from COVID hiatus
BALTIMORE — Finally back on the baseball diamond after enduring eight days of virus testing, hotel room service and lengthy bus rides, the Miami Marlins scratched out a victory worth savoring.
Following one final delay in their effort to return from a miserable coronavirus-induced hiatus, the Marlins found enough power and pitching within their vastly overhauled roster to beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-0 Tuesday night.
Francisco Cervelli and Jesús Aguilar homered for the Marlins, who had their season halted after 18 players tested positive for COVID-19 following the opening series in Philadelphia.
All the happiness that playing baseball brings was displayed when Cervelli slammed a 3-1 pitch from John Means over the left-field wall to give Miami a 1-0 lead in the fifth. The players in the dugout cheered, and Cervelli saluted them as the rounded third and headed for home.
“These guys love to play, right? That’s what you see,” manager Don Mattingly said. “We’ve been in a hotel for a long time. Guys are happy to be out.”
Pablo López threw five innings of two-hit ball and the bullpen allowed just one hit in Miami’s first shutout victory since Sept. 8 against Kansas City.
“Give him credit. He threw a really nice game,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said of Lopez. “We just didn’t swing the bats well.”
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Marlins were still awaiting the result of further COVID-19 tests, a process that stalled their arrival at Camden Yards and pushed back the scheduled 7:35 p.m. start by 41 minutes.
Once they finally got back on the diamond, the Marlins backed up the assertion of president of baseball oper
ations Michael Hill, who said beforehand: “We expect to win games.” So does Mattingly. “We lost some guys, but we like our guys who are coming up,” he said.
TWINS 7, PIRATES 3: In Minneapolis, José Berríos pitched six strong innings, Nelson Cruz had three hits and Minnesota beat Pittsburgh in a game briefly delayed when an unauthorized drone flew over Target Field.
The Twins won their fifth in a row, completed a 7-1 homestand and improved to 9-2 for the second time in the team’s 60-year history. The other was 2001.
The game was delayed for nine minutes in the fifth inning and players were pulled off the field when the drone flew over center field. A few pitchers in the bullpen threw balls at the flying intruder, but missed.
DODGERS 5, PADRES 2: In San Diego, AJ Pollock hit a pinch, go-ahead double in the seventh inning and added a solo homer, and Dustin May struck out a career-high eight to help Los Angeles beat the Padres.
ROCKIES 5, GIANTS 2: In Denver, Germán Márquez struck out nine in efficiently throwing into the eighth inning and benefited from an overturned home-run call as Colorado kept rolling, beating San Francisco.
The Rockies moved to 8-2 for the second time in franchise history. ASTROS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 2 : In Phoenix, José Altuve and Carlos Correa hit solo homers, George Springer added a two-run double and the Houston Astros roughed up Madison Bumgarner in a victory over Arizona.
NATIONALS 5, METS 3: In Washington, star slugger Juan Soto danced on the dugout roof to celebrate solo shots by Howie Kendrick and Josh Harrison, and the Nationals returned from a coronavirus-caused fourday break to beat injury-depleted New York in a rain-interrupted game.
INDIANS 4, REDS 2: In Cincinnati, Shane Bieber overcame two solo home runs to pitch into the eighth inning, Franmil Reyes hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer and Cleveland snapped a four-game skid with a win over the Reds.
BRAVES 10, BLUE JAYS 1: In Atlanta, Max Fried boosted Atlanta’s depleted rotation by allowing only one run in six innings, Austin Riley hit a three-run homer and the Braves beat Toronto. RAYS 5, RED SOX 1: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Austin Meadows got two hits after missing the first 10 games of the season with the coronavirus and Tampa Bay stopped its losing streak at five, beating Boston.
WHITE SOX 3, BREWERS 2: In Milwaukee, Jose Abreu hit a tie-breaking single in the seventh inning, helping Lucas Giolito and Chicago edged Milwaukee.
CUBS 5, ROYALS 4: In Chicago, Jason Heyward, Jason Kipnis and Willson Contreras homered and the Cubs overcame another shaky outing by closer Craig Kimbrel to beat Kansas City for their fifth straight win. ATHLETICS 5, RANGERS 1: In Oakland, Calif., Stephen Piscotty hit Oakland’s second walkoff grand slam of the year and the Athletics beat Texas.