Marlins out-hit D-backs, 11-5, still come up short

[Nate Karzmer]

The age-old phrase, "baseball is a game of inches", was on full display Saturday night at Chase Field.

Four series wins in a row. That is what was on the minds of Miami Marlins coaches and players as they entered game two of their three-game set against the reigning National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks.

Miami, as they did on Friday night, got runs on the board early against one of the best pitchers in baseball. In game one it was against Zac Gallen and in game two, it was against newly signed Jordan Montgomery. Dane Myers started things off with a lead-off double on the second pitch of the game, and he came around to score courtesy of a Josh Bell RBI single. The Marlins had more ducks on the pond in the frame, but Montgomery limited the damage, allowing just one run to come in.

Scoring early in games is always nice, but it is especially important when Sixto Sánchez is on the bump. He has had a rough go in the first inning of every game he has started thus far in 2024, as he entered Saturday night's contest with an ERA of 19.80 in the first inning. While the Fish did a great job of getting him a cushion, those woes continued.

A walk and subsequent stolen base from Corbin Carroll put pressure on the 25-year old early, and while a Ketel Marte strikeout and Joc Pederson lineout got two outs on the board, back-to-back doubles from Christian Walker and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. put the D-backs on top, 2-1. The two earned runs somehow lowered Sánchez's first-inning ERA to 19.50.

The Snakes would strike back for one more run the next inning, but that would be all, as Sánchez finished his night completing five innings for the first time all season. While the righty still hasn't solved his first-inning issues, this was arguably his best start of the season and a step in the right direction.

Although Sánchez's performance gave the Marlins a chance to take the lead back, Montgomery had other plans. The 2023 World Series champion was steady from innings two to five, allowing a couple of baserunners but holding Skip Schumaker's club to one run.

In the top of the sixth, though, things got interesting. After a Jake Burger double, former Arizona farmhand Jazz Chisholm Jr. stepped in the box with one out and hammered a fly ball over the head of the speedy Carroll in center field, scoring Burger. The ball took a weird bounce off the base of the wall, and Chisholm rounded second and went for a triple. After being initially called safe on the field, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo requested a challenge that ended up being successful, clearing the bases and taking the tying run off of third.

One pitch later, Tim Anderson hit a single up the middle that would have brought Chisholm home.

That is the closest Miami would get to tying things up, as Montgomery escaped the sixth inning and turned things over to an Arizona bullpen that was lights out other than a Emmanuel Rivera double in the eighth. Paul Sewald went 1-2-3 against the bottom of the Marlins lineup in the top of the ninth, locking down a 3-2 win for his D-backs. Miami out-hit Arizona 11-5, but went just 2-for-9 with RISP.

In relief of Sánchez, Anthony Bender, Andrew Nardi and Calvin Faucher combined for three hitless innings with five strikeouts. The Marlins bullpen has not allowed a run since Tuesday.

Miami looks to clinch a series victory Sunday at 4:10 EST with the hot Ryan Weathers toeing the slab. Weathers goes into the rubber match with an ERA of 2.33 in the month of May. Rookie Blake Walston makes the start for Arizona.

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