From benched on Monday to walking it off on Thursday, Jesús Sánchez redeems himself

[Kevin Barral]

Three days after being disciplined by the Marlins for his lack of effort, the Dominican outfielder delivered the decisive 10th-inning hit to extend Miami's winning streak.

MIAMI, FL—Monday was a low point for the Miami Marlins and for outfielder Jesús Sánchez in particular. He was removed from the game after the top of the third inning due to a lack of effort as the Washington Nationals completed a four-game sweep of the Marlins. However, the Marlins have not lost since. On Thursday afternoon, they beat the Colorado Rockies by a final score of 5-4 and it was Sánchez who walked-off the Rockies to clinch the three-game sweep.

"Credit to him, he's moved on and I think he's grown from it already," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "I told him I still love him and doesn't mean I'm not gonna play you anymore. His teammates also built him up after that. There were a lot of good conversations and I'm super happy for him."

Sanchez, who primarily faces right-handed pitching, saw himself going up against a lefty in Jalen Beeks. "Beeks is not easy to hit." said Schumaker. "He's got that induced fastball with a real cutter. That's not easy to hit against, especially as a lefty." Entering this afternoon's game, Sánchez had slashed .196/.228/.312/.541 in his career against lefties, but this season had only ten at-bats against them.

"I was really feeling comfortable," said Sanchez through an interpreter when talking about the at-bat. "With a left-handed pitcher, he was throwing that fastball so I was thinking, 'let's go open up the field on this one.' Got me on two strikes and continued with the same plan. I was able to make contact."

Per Marlins communications, with two walk-off wins vs. the Rockies this series, it marks the first time that the Marlins won multiple games in walk-off fashion in the same series since 2022 (July 13 and July 14 vs. Pittsburgh).

After getting roughed up in his last start, Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera took the mound against the Colorado Rockies and went four innings, giving up four runs off three hits and four walks. Despite some control issues, Cabrera now leads the team in strikeouts with 30.

"It's lights-out stuff, but the walks hurt him," said Schumaker. (Jacob) Stallings set one off of him, but I think overall, three hits. He doesn't give up a ton of hits because it's hard to hit off of. It's just the walks again."

During his two seasons as Cabrera's teammate, Stallings hit only one home run at loanDepot park, but his three-run shot in the top of the second inning was a no-doubter.

Other than that mistake, Cabrera picked up a high amount of whiffs from what was a very aggressive Rockies lineup. Out of Cabrera's nine strikeouts, seven came on swinging strikes. Cabrera didn't rely on one specific putout pitch, keeping the opposing hitters guessing throughout most of the afternoon.

Cabrera did enter the top of the fifth, but was unable to record an out as he walked Jake Cave, gave up a base hit to Stallings and walked nine hitter Hunter Goodman to end his afternoon.

Following his start, Cabrera noted that he was under the weather and not feeling 100%.

The Marlins offense would provide Cabrera with run support throughout the entirety of his outing. In the bottom of the first inning, Luis Arraez led off with a double and after Bryan De La Cruz worked a walk, Jazz Chisholm Jr. drove him in, moving De La Cruz to third. Sánchez drove in De La Cruz on a sacrifice fly to give Miami an early 2-0 lead.

Josh Bell took Rockies starter Peter Lambert deep for a solo homer, his fourth of the season. With the home run, Bell finds himself on a three-game hitting streak, which can potentially lead him to turning the corner and getting back on track (69 wRC+ this season).

"The guy works a lot," said Schumaker. "He is early hitting every day. He's hitting after watching video and hitting after the game. He really cares and he's trying to figure it out. He's not happy about his start. It's tough for me to take him out of the lineup because I know it's coming. There's been some really good, hard outs...He's walking, that tells me he's seeing it. That tells me he's really, really close. It's not surprising when guys work and that success comes."

 

The Miami Marlins now travel to California to take on the Oakland Athletics, who have a record of 15-17 this season. Miami's projected starters for the series will be Ryan Weathers, Trevor Rogers and Sixto Sánchez. First pitch on Friday will be at 9:40 p.m.

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

I'm all in with the upside for Cabrera. Don't trade him, please, and continue to work toward his maturation as a pitcher to combine with his talents. That is supposed to be a Marlins and Stottlemyre specialty, so let's see to it. To this end, Stottlemyre must reiterate how devastating a give-back run is, especially one created by a leadoff walk. Once the Marlins had the lead, the next half-inning sets the tone for the rest of the game. I also cringed at the leadoff walk - it wasn't situational nor was the hitter particularly troublesome. It was simply the old bugaboo that seemed so incongruent with fundamentals. Again.  I pitched only through college, but I know how disproportionally a give-back inning applies to the big leagues and a pitcher with Cabrera's stuff shouldn't be nibbling endlessly. I want to forget these types of things after a Marlins win, mostly, and especially, if it's not repeated constantly.  Even though it was the Rockies, the start to May is encouraging.