Marlins hoping big ninth-inning rally in Arizona ‘gets us rolling’
Jazz Chisholm Jr. summed up the mood.
A little less than two weeks ago, the Miami Marlins were riding a high. Seven consecutive wins will do that.
And then? Their record started to spiral.
Nine losses in a 10game stretch. Seven of those nine losses decided by one run.
“It’s a tough feeling,” Chisholm said. “Walking off the field, you want to put your head down. But you’ve got to keep it up until the next day, because you know you’ve got another day to come back and fight.”
They showed that Wednesday — and they know they need to keep showing that as the season continues.
Miami’s eight-run ninth inning to cap their 11-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, an offensive flurry that all came with two outs, was a microcosm of what the Marlins’ lineup can do when everything is going right. Miami scored more runs in that ninth inning than they did in 26 games this season.
“We all know that our team can just flat-out hit,” said Chisholm, whose three-run home run in the ninth gave Miami a fourrun lead before the team piled on four more runs. “That’s why we’re here in the first place. The guys were just showing everybody a taste of what you’re going to see.”
It’s a potential momentum-building moment the team wants to capitalize on as it begins a nine-game homestand with series against the Milwaukee Brewers (Friday through Sunday), Washington Nationals (Monday through Wednesday) and Atlanta Braves (May 20-22).
“Definitely a sigh of relief, to get a win, try to end this thing, this little stretch,” manager Don Mattingly said. “Hopefully that little breakout there at the end kind of gets us rolling.”
COLE SULSER TO GET MORE CLOSER LOOKS
After the Marlins blew open their series finale against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday with that eight-run ninth inning, Cole Sulser made his way to the mound and promptly retired the side on nine pitches.
And Mattingly wanted to make it clear: Sulser would have been the guy pitching the bottom of the ninth inning whether the game was tied, Miami was in a save situation or it was a blowout.
Mattingly said Monday prior to the start of the Diamondbacks series that he had intended to use Sulser the next time they had a save situation.
Sulser gave up a walkoff home run on Sunday against the San Diego Padres in his previous outing, his first blown save in two opportunities this season, but Mattingly said he didn’t want to let one outing serve as Sulser’s final judgment, especially since Sulser had allowed just one earned run to that point while primarily pitching in highleverage situations.
The Marlins played from behind Monday and
Tuesday, so Wednesday became the first chance for Sulser to get redemption.
“He was gonna be the guy,” Mattingly said. “At that point, it became kind of out of hand. You wouldn’t want to use your closer there or guys that are closing games for you, but that situation [was about] being able to get him out there, finish the game, get some outs and get rid of the other one.”
So what does this mean for the rest of the bullpen if Sulser is going to get more ninth-inning looks? The main person impacted would be Anthony Bender, who pitched the sixth inning Sunday and didn’t appear in any of the three games against Arizona. He could move back to a setup role, rotating with fellow righties Anthony Bass and Dylan Floro as well as lefties Tanner Scott and Steven Okert depending on matchups.
“I think it depends who we have available and where we’re at,” Mattingly said.
ROSTER UPDATES
Brian Anderson did pregame work on the field both Tuesday and Wednesday after joining the Marlins in Phoenix. He was not activated from the injured list during the series, however, after being placed on the IL Friday for undisclosed reasons.
Anderson traveled back to Miami separately from the team prior to Wednesday’s game and is playing in a rehab game with the Class A Jupiter Hammerheads on Thursday. He will most likely be activated at some point during the next homestand.
Neither Jon Berti nor Richard Bleier, the other two Marlins players who went on the IL for undisclosed reasons while in San Diego, have been with the team since IL placement.
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1997
The Marlins this weekend are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the franchise’s 1997 World Series championship when they host the Milwaukee Brewers.
Craig Counsell, who scored the World Serieswinning run in Game 7, is the manager of the Brewers and is one of 14 members from that 1997 team expected to be in attendance over the course of the weekend at loanDepot park.
The others: manager Jim Leyland, World Series MVP Livan Hernandez, Kurt Abbott, Antonio Alfonseca, Alex Arias, John Cangelosi, Rich Donnelly, Jim Eisenreich, Alex Fernandez, Cliff Floyd, Charles Johnson, Edgar Renteria and Gary Sheffield.
The main event of the celebration will be Saturday, when the Marlins will hold an on-field, pre-game ceremony to recognize the 1997 team. The first 8,000 fans in attendance will also receive a 1997 World Series replica ring. On Sunday, members of the 1997 team will play a softball game on the field beginning at 11:45 p.m., with gates opening at 11:30 a.m. ahead of Miami’s 1:40 p.m. first pitch.