Takeaways as big fifth inning leads Miami Marlins past Dodgers for sixth straight win
The Miami Marlins were dealt tough news pregame Wednesday when the team announced ace Sandy Alcantara and All-Star slugger Jorge Soler were both going on the injured list. It’s the type of news that can be devastating to a club, especially one in the thick of a playoff race and going up against one of the top teams in the league.
Instead, the Marlins rallied for their injured stars and put together one of their more dominant wins of the season with an 11-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at loanDepot park to secure the series. Miami can get the sweep on Thursday.
The Marlins (72-67) are now on a season-high-tying six-game win streak dating back to their series opener against the Washington Nationals on Thursday. Miami has outscored its opponents 48-22 in that stretch, scoring at least six runs in all six games.
“It shows you what kind of leadership we have in that clubhouse,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said postgame. “It shows our staff how strong they are as a group. We weren’t gonna let that happen to our group, the pity party and feeling sorry for us. It sucks to lose Soler and Sandy; there’s no doubt about it. And you can feel bad and feel sad for them, but there’s a game to be played and a game to be won. Sandy and Soler were still in the dugout for nine innings. That shows you what kind of guys we have in that clubhouse, and they really do care for one another. And as much as they’re sick to their stomach that they can’t be out there with us, we still feel their presence because they’re there.”
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Marlins get lift from big fifth inning
The Marlins entered the fifth inning down 1-0 to the Dodgers (84-54) and had just one hit through the first four innings on a Jazz Chisholm Jr. bunt single.
And then came the breakout.
Thirteen batters to the plate. Nine runs. Eight hits. Three home runs. Two walks. Two hits apiece by Jacob Stallings and Joey Wendle.
The nine runs in the frame was a season high and most for the in an inning since Aug. 13, 2021, when Miami tied the club record with 11 runs in the second inning against the Chicago Cubs.
Here’s the batter-by-batter breakdown of how it all unfolded.
▪ Stallings led off the inning with a hard-hit double to left field for Miami’s first extra-base hit of the game.
▪ Wendle got all of an elevated Lance Lynn fastball, sending it 385 feet to right field for a two-run home run to give the Marlins a 2-1 lead. It was Wendle’s second home run of the season.
▪ After walks to Luis Arraez and Jake Burger and a Josh Bell flyout, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a first-pitch sinker to left-center that kept carrying until it landed beyond the left-field wall for a three-run home run to push Miami’s lead to 5-1. It was Chisholm’s 50th career home run, 16th home run of the season and third in the past six games.
▪ Bryan De La Cruz hit a flyout to right field for the second out of the inning before Jesus Sanchez hit Miami’s third home run of the inning, a 441-foot shot to right-center to extend the Marlins’ advantage to 6-1. Sanchez now has 12 home runs on the season.
▪ The Marlins finished their outburst with an Xavier Edwards single, Stallings bunt single, Wendle RBI double and Arraez two-run double before Burger grounded out in his second at-bat of the inning.
Miami added two more runs in the seventh on RBI doubles from Wendle and Yuli Gurriel. Wendle had a season-high three RBI Wednesday.
Miami has hit 15 home runs over the win streak, the second-most in MLB over the past week behind only the Houston Astros (16).
Edward Cabrera headlines stellar outing from Marlins pitchers
After the Marlins used three relievers — JT Chargois (one inning), Steven Okert (two innings) and A.J. Puk (one inning) — to cover the first four innings on Wednesday, right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera dazzled in his return to the big-league roster after a month-long demotion.
Cabrera held the Dodgers scoreless for four innings, allowing just one hit and issuing two walks while striking out eight batters.
Both of the walks came in his first inning of work, a 26-pitch fifth inning in which he also struck out three. The lone hit: A Jason Heyward two-out single in the sixth before he retired the final seven batters he faced.
Bryan Hoeing pitched the ninth inning, giving up three runs on a Wendle fielding error on a Jason Heyward ground ball and James Outman two-run home run. The Dodgers’ only run outside of the ninth inning came on a Heyward home run against Puk in the fourth.
Where things stand in the playoff race
With the win, coupled with losses by the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants, the Marlins are now back in the third and final National League wild card spot with 23 games left to play. Here’s the team-by-team wild card standings through games played Wednesday:
▪ Wild card 1: Philadelphia Phillies (77-62)
▪ Wild card 2: Chicago Cubs (76-64)
▪ Wild card 3: Marlins (72-67)
▪ First out: Diamondbacks (72-68)
▪ Second out: Reds (73-69)
▪ Third out: Giants (70-70)
This story was originally published September 6, 2023, 9:17 PM.
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