Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Tyler Moore hits pair of homers in road win
PITTSBURGH — Don Mattingly’s surest sign of confidence Friday night came in the bottom of the eighth inning, with the Miami Marlins cruising to a 12-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates: full-blown spring training mode.
Tomas Telis to first base. Christian Colon to third. Derek Dietrich to left. Tyler Moore to right. Marcell Ozuna to center. And rookie left-hander Jarlin Garia pitching a full inning for just the second time in almost three weeks.
The Marlins led by a bunch, en route to their 10th win in 13 games, so yeah, these guys could handle the final six defensive outs, the Miami coaching staff decided. And they did.
Officially, this blowout win also counts as a come-frombehind one for Miami. They fell behind 1-0 in the first before taking over offensively.
The Marlins scored multiple runs in four separate innings — including three in a row, inning Nos. 2-4 — and every starter had at least one a hit. That included pitcher Vance Worley, whose hard, bouncing single to third base in the second inning plated a run for a Miami lead.
The offensive highlight was worth only one run, but plenty more in highlight-reel time. Giancarlo Stanton (2 for 4, three RBI) launched a home run off the top of the batter’s eye in center field. ESPN estimated the shot traveling 465 feet, MLBAM coming in at 449 feet.
Moore homered twice to left field, a two-run blast in the third and a solo shot in the seventh. His fly ball to right in the second also scored a run for four RBI on the night.
Moore’s transition to starting first baseman — for an expected week and a half, anyway, with Justin Bour on the shelf with a bruised ankle — has gone smoothly. In six games, Moore is hitting .364 (8 for 22), including multi-hit games in each of the past three days, with five extra-base hits and nine RBI.
Mattingly expects this stretch of consistent playing time to pay off for Moore even beyond Bour’s return.
“He’s swinging the bat. He’s having good at-bats, he’s driving the ball to [the outfield],” Mattingly said Friday afternoon. “And this will be really good for him, to get at-bats together, even for his pinchhits when JB gets back. Being able to play every day for a little bit really helps your timing.”