Marlins rally for 5th straight win
The Miami Marlins put their season-long winning streak in jeopardy for six innings Wednesday until their offense finally came alive. For six innings in Detroit, the Marlins never mustered more than a single in a frame, so they went into the seventh with just one run, trailing the last-place Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
Just a week ago, this was essentially the norm for Miami, which spent the first quarter of the season setting a historic pace for offensive futility. Not any longer. The Marlins connected for four hits in five batters to open the top of the seventh, erasing a two-run deficit and sending Miami on its way to a 6-3 win in front of 14,506 fans.
The Marlins (15-31) opened the frame with three straight hits by outfielder Harold Ramirez, corner infielder Martin Prado and utility man Neil Walker to tie the game at 3-3. Two batters later, infielder Miguel Rojas laced another single to center to send Walker homer and give Miami the lead for good at 4-3. With a second straight series win, the Marlins extended their season-best winning streak to five straight games.
The three-run seventh inning completed Miami’s rally from down 3-0. José Ureña started off shaky before regrouping to go six innings. The Tigers (18-28) needed only two batters to take a 1-0 lead, as middle infielder Gordon Beckham led off with a double and super utility man Niko Goodrum knocked him home with a single to center. In the second, an error by slugging third baseman Brian Anderson cost Ureña (2-6) an unearned run, then the starting pitcher coughed up back-to-back two-out hits in the third to let Detroit extend its lead.
Although he allowed seven hits and two walks, Ureña allowed only two earned runs and struck out seven to keep the Marlins within striking distance. Their reinvigorated offense took advantage of the opportunity.
Outfielder Garrett Cooper initiated the rally in the sixth and, for the second straight game Miami got to celebrate a player’s first career home run. On Tuesday, Ramirez belted an opposite-field homer to extend an early lead for the Marlins. On Wednesday, Cooper’s blast into the visitors’ bullpen finally put them on the board in the top of the sixth and sent Miami into the seventh down 3-1.
Ramirez started another crucial rally Wednesday. The rookie led off with a single to left and Prado followed with another to put runners on the corners and set up Walker to tie the game. Walker launched a double off the wall in right-center to send Ramirez and Prado home, and tie the game. After catcher Jorge Alfaro struck out, Rojas delivered the go-ahead hit.
An inning later, slugging third baseman Anderson provided some insurance with a two-run homer to right. On its five-game winning streak, Miami has scored at least five runs three times. The Marlins had only managed so many in a single game five times total in their first 41.
The extra runs made the task easier for the Miami bullpen. Relief pitchers Austin Brice and Tayron Guerrero both danced around a runner in scoring position in their innings, and pitcher Sergio Romo pitched a low-stress 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save of the season.
RAMIREZ GETS LOOK IN CENTER
Ramirez got his first call to MLB earlier this month primarily because of his offense. The outfielder was an accomplished hitter at every level of the minors, good enough to make up for some averageat-best defense. With the Marlins, Ramirez was supposed to get work in both corner outfield spots and perhaps provide a bit of a spark with his bat.
Miami didn’t expect to be quite so thin in center, though, and now Ramirez is getting a shot at a new position. The rookie started his second straight game in center field Wednesday after proving at least competent there in the Marlins’ series-opening win against the Tigers on Tuesday.
“It was OK. There was no ridiculous plays or anything,” manager Don Mattingly said Tuesday. “I think he’s a guy that we can play there. I don’t think he’s going to profile in center, honestly, but for us, right now, you’ll probably see him out there again.”
Early on, Ramirez’s bat is proving valuable enough for Miami to force him into the lineup. The righty hit an opposite-field home run Tuesday for the first homer of his career and followed it with an opposite-field single in his first at-bat Wednesday. The 24-year-old entered Wednesday with a .263 batting average in 20 plate appearances for the Majors’ worst offense.
Still, he was far from perfect Tuesday. Ramirez moved to left field in the fourth inning and provided a reminder as to why his defense is considered a question mark. Ramirez caught a fly ball in left field, but dropped it to the ground as he transferred the ball to his throwing hand. The play was close enough to originally be ruled an error for a dropped fly ball before Mattingly challenged to get a call in his favor.