Marlins snap losing streak
MIAMI — So much of the news lately surrounding the Miami Marlins was of the negative variety.
There was the announcement of Giancarlo Stanton being out for nearly two months because of an injury. There was the recent five-game losing streak. There was the poor hitting with runners in scoring position. And then Saturday happened. For a day, the Marlins could poke out their chests after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 at Marlin Park in front of an announced crowd of 24,770. Happy days were here again. Finally. “In lieu of what happened last night, this team could have come in today and been very deflated after the injury to [Stanton],” Marlins manager Dan Jennings said.
Jennings let out a huge sigh before addressing the media after the game. The Marlins snapped out of the 10-day funk that included losing eight of nine. Most impressive was they did it on a day they could have sat around feeling sorry for themselves. They learned before the game that Stanton will miss four to six weeks because of a broken bone in his left hand.
With their best player sidelined and facing the best team in the National League West, it would have been easy to lie down. Instead, the Marlins played with a “next-man-up mentality” and brought positive vibes back to the locker room.
“You’re not going to replace Giancarlo Stanton,” Jennings said. “That just doesn’t happen. These guys understand what they have to do.”
Pitcher Tom Koehler was solid in his return to the rotation after missing the last start because of neck and back pain. He allowed six hits while striking out five in seven innings. Outfielder Christian Yelich went 4 of 4 and scored once while reliever A.J. Ramos picked up his 10th save by retiring the three batters he faced in the ninth.
“The losing is what’s been hurting,” Koehler said. “It hasn’t been easy to deal it. Nobody in here likes to lose. To get a win on a day where we arguably lose the front-runner for the MVP is big and it shows the charac- ter of the guys. Hopefully, it’s a momentum builder.”
It started as if the Marlins were headed to yet another night of disappointment. Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner hit a solo homer off Koehler in the first inning. With the help of a pair of Dodgers mistakes, the Marlins were immediately able to answer.
After Yelich reached based on an infield single, the Marlins took advantage of two errors to grab a 2-1 lead. Yelich scored on a throwing error by Andre Ethier. Adeiny Hechavarria then scored on Clayton Kershaw’s wild pitch.
The gifts continued the second inning when Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson dropped a fly ball, allowing J.T. Realmuto to make it 3-1.
“You’ve got a find a way to win,” Yelich said. “Nobody is going to feel sorry for you. Teams aren’t going to take it easy on you just because one of your superstars are out.”
It was evident things were going the Marlins’ way in the fourth when momentum was on the verge of swaying. The Dodgers pulled to within one run when Yelich misplayed a flyball, allowing Howie Kendricks to score. With one out and runners on first and second, the Marlins averted any more damage when Hechavarria made an acrobatic stop of Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal’s grounder.
Hechavarria then flipped the ball to second baseman Dee Gordon, who threw to first to complete the double play and end the inning.