Stanton slugs two raises HR total to 59
Solo shot in fourth, 2-run blast in eighth overpower Atlanta.
Giancarlo Stanton homered twice to become the first player to hit 59 in a season since 2001, and the Miami Marlins opened the last series of Jeffrey Loria’s tenure as owner by beating the Atlanta Braves 7-1 on Thursday night.
Stanton hit a solo home run in the fourth, then added a two-run drive in the eighth that would have gone 467 feet unimpeded, according to MLB’s Statcast.
He has 33 home runs since the All-Star break and 10 multihomer games this season. He became the sixth player to reach 59, joining Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Maris and
Babe Ruth.
Ichiro Suzuki got his 27th pinch hit of the year, one shy of the record John Vander Wal set in 1995.
Dee Gordon got two hits for the Marlins, who despite
a75-84 record assured themselves of second place in the NL East, their highest finish
since 2009.
Lane Adams homered for Atlanta, which fell to 34-17 at Marlins Park. The Braves need to win two of its final three games to avoid three straight 90-loss seasons for the first time since 1988-90.
Marlins rookie Dillon Peters (1-2) allowed two hits and struck out four in 5⅔ shutout innings for his first big league win. Braves starter Julio Teheran (11-13)
gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings.
These are Miami’s final home games before a group led by Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman takes over as owners, a transition scheduled to closeMonday. Marlins President David Samson isn’t being retained and was emo
tional when speaking Thursday spoke of the looming farewell. Marlins manager Don Mattingly said he has yet to speak with Jeter — his former Yankees teammate — about what comes next.
“Watching Derek over the years, the way he does
things, he’s not going to come here and want to just get beat up,” Mattingly said. “He’s
going to come here and want to build this thing and do it right. It’s going to be a positive with Derek here.”
Change coming? Sunday could be it for Stanton as a Marlin. The same with fellow outfielders Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich —
and who knows who else?
“Every year is uncertainty here, so it doesn’t matter,”
Stanton saidthis week. “But I don’t worry about it until
the time comes.”
With new o wne r sh ip assuming the reins of the franchise and the Marlins’ financial ledger bleeding red, speculation is rampant that the weekend series could be the swan song for Stanton, Ozuna, Yelich and others.
The Marlins have 2018 payroll obligations of $95 million owed to eight players, and it takes 25 to make up a roster. Stanton alone will pocket $25 millionnext season,his gargantuan contract coming home to roost just as
Sherman and Jeter are preparing to take over. “I don’t worry about it
until the time comes,” said Stanton, who is enjoying the best season of his career,
increasing his trade value in
the process. “It’llcome even
tually. Five years. Tomorrow. It doesn’t matter.”
Scouts have also been following Yelich and Ozuna.
All of it suggests that one of the premier outfield trios is down to its final act.
“Maybe?” Ozuna replied at the suggestion that the Marlins outfield might be the best in the game. “What do you mean maybe?”
Statistically speaking, the Marlins outfield tops
the Majors in terms of OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) with a figure of .890. The Yankees outfield that includes Aaron Judge is a distant second at .856.
There’s not an active outfield trio anywhere that has started as many games together as the Marlins’ troika of Stanton, Yelich and Ozuna: 379 games, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Next is Pittsburgh’s trio of Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco at 243 games. No other major league outfield has started as many as 200 games as a threeplayer entity.
All three outfielders came up through the Marlins’ farm system. Ozuna and
Yelich played together in
the minors.
“Yeah, it’s going to be sad,” Ozuna said of a potential breakup. “But what are we
going to do? We don’t have any control over that.”