Marlins fall to Blue Jays despite Cervelli’s dramatic tying homer
It was a matter of inches separating Logan Forsythe from being the latest unlikely hero for the Marlins on Tuesday. A towering fly ball breezed past the foul pole in left field. The infielder celebrated. The Marlins jumped up and down in their dugout.
For a moment, Miami thought another improbable comeback was complete after it trailed by three runs with two outs in the top of the ninth.
Forsythe — and everyone else — thought he had hit the goahead two-run home run in extra innings. The umpires, though, decided to review and it was apparent: Forsythe’s fly ball just missed grazing the foul pole. The Marlins’ celebration petered out and a few minutes later the Toronto Blue Jays were instead after a walk-off, 5-4 win in extra innings.
Instead of a seventh win in nine games, Miami (7-4) instead suffered a third consecutive loss in the first MLB game in Buffalo since 1915.
Even with the loss, the Marlins still sit atop the National League East, ahead of the Atlanta Braves by percentage points as Miami’s unprecedented road trip finally nears its end.
It started last Tuesday in Baltimore, when the Marlins beat the Baltimore Orioles following an eight-day layoff and 18 players testing positive for COVID-19. They won five games in four days before the finally lost to the New York Mets on Saturday, sending
at least temporarily, crashing back down to earth with three straight losses.
On Tuesday, the Marlins nearly pulled off another unlikely victory in a season full of them. On its 22nd straight day on the road, Miami was down to its final out in the top of the ninth when Brian Anderson drew a two-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Francisco Cervelli, supposed to be nothing more than a backup catcher this season, stepped up with two runners and the Marlins trailing 4-1.
Cervelli, now the regular starter after catcher Jorge Alfaro tested positive for the coronavirus last month, was patient. He took three straight pitches, all down and inside, before he finally saw something he liked. Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass hung a 3-0 sinker hung near the top of the zone and Cervelli jumped on his chance.
As soon as he followed through, the catcher dropped his bat to the ground and pumped both of his fists simultaneously. He turned to his right to face a celebrating dugout and then he rounded the bases. He knew right away his swing was sending the gametying home run over the fence at Sahlen Field.
In the 10th, Forsythe’s foul was as close as Miami came. Toronto (6-8) regrouped in the 10th and third baseman Travis Shaw smacked a game-winning single with the bases loaded against relief pitcher Sterling Sharp.
For most of Tuesday, the Marlins’ bats were quiet. AnMiami,
The Marlins nearly pulled off another thrilling early-season victory after catcher Francisco Cervelli forced extras with a game-tying homer in the ninth, but the Toronto Blue Jays regrouped to win in 10.
derson crushed a solo home run in the second inning to give Miami a 1-0 lead against star starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu and then the Marlins managed just one more hit until the ninth inning, when Jon Berti finally started a rally with a leadoff double.
Tuesday also marked the second straight game Miami faced a pitcher who finished top-two in voting for the 2019 NL Cy Young Award. On Sunday, the Marlins managed just two runs in five innings against Jacob deGrom before dropping their first series of the year to the Mets. On Tuesday, Miami managed even less against Ryu as the left-handed pitcher held the Marlins to just two hits in six innings.
For five innings, Elieser Hernandez still bested him.
Less than a week ago, the pitcher was asked to take the mound in a nearly impossible situation. The Marlins hadn’t played for more than a week because of their outbreak, leaving the pitching rotation and bullpen particularly thin. Instead, Hernandez kicked off the most improbable run of the young MLB season, firing 4 1/3 scoreless innings as Miami won the first of five games in four days to surge atop the
NL East standings.
On Tuesday, he cruised through five more shutout innings, giving up just one hit before Toronto finally got to him in sixth. The Blue Jays led off with backto-back doubles, setting up shortstop Bo Bichette to hit a go-ahead three-run homer.
Hernandez ultimately went 51⁄3 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and a walk with five strikeouts.