South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Marlins hang on for sixth straight win
Jorge Soler and Miguel Rojas homered and the Miami Marlins won their sixth straight game, beating the Seattle Mariners 8-6 Friday night.
Soler’s homer in the first inning bounced off a column behind the left-center field pavilion and was measured at 468 feet, the third-longest in the major leagues this season.
“When I made contact, it felt as if I didn’t hit anything,” Soler said in Spanish. “Then, when I saw it in the air, I said, ‘Wow that one is gone.’ ”
Jesús Sánchez’s two-run single with the bases loaded against Mariners starter Matt Brash capped a four-run second inning. Jesús Aguilar and Jacob Stallings also had RBI singles that stretched the Marlins’ lead to 6-3.
Miami increased its lead on Rojas’ two-run homer in the third. A day after getting hit in the jaw with a pitch against Washington starter Patrick Corbin, Rojas powered a fastball from Mariners’ reliever Matthew Festa over the wall in left for his first homer of the season.
“I didn’t feel anything because I put everything in God’s hands,” Rojas said of Thursday’s scare. “Thankfully, nothing happened to me because I was wearing the protective flap. I didn’t feel any discomfort with Corbin hitting me. I feel like I found something on my swing and I was really excited to go out there.”
Marlins starter Elieser Hernández settled down after a difficult second and limited Seattle to three runs over five innings. Hernández (2-1) scattered five hits, struck out five and walked one.
“It’s always nice to win, right?” Miami manager Don Mattingly said. “It just breeds confidence. It’s a good feeling and something you want to keep doing. Guys have worked hard. We know it’s early and there’s a long way to go and all that, but it’s paying off now.”
Seattle rallied with three runs in the ninth on Jarred Kelenic’s one-out RBI double against reliever Shawn Armstrong. Anthony Bender relieved Armstrong and allowed Luis Torrens’ sacrifice fly and Adam Frazier’s run-scoring single before retiring Ty France on a force out for his fifth save.
“I give our guys credit for not quitting, we got the tying run to the plate,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “It’s good to see their bullpen a little bit and hopefully it helps us out the rest of the series.”
Brash (1-2) was lifted after two innings. The rookie right-hander allowed six runs, seven hits, struck out three and walked two in his fourth major league start.
“I will be back and be better,” Brash said. “It is a learning experience every day here. I shook it off, but I let that second inning spiral out of control and I cannot let that happen. I’ll work on some stuff in the bullpen this week and get right back at it.”