Vidal Bruján redeems himself in walk-off fashion

[Kevin Barral]

Vidal Bruján had the opportunity to walk it off for the Marlins on Monday, but failed. Given the same opportunity on Tuesday, he evened the series with a 10th-inning RBI single.

MIAMI, FL—Playing time has been scarce for Miami Marlins utility man Vidal Bruján. When the other Marlins infielders are healthy, he's usually on the bench, under pressure to make the most of his limited opportunities. He did not deliver on Monday, popping up to strand the winning run on third base with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning. The same situation presented itself again on Tuesday, but this time, the pinch-hitter came through with his first career walk-off as the Marlins won by a final score of 9-8.

"I'm really proud of Bruján," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "He's beating himself up yesterday after the game and had a chance to win it and had another chance today. It's a sign of a professionalism and I'm proud that he had the confidence to slow the game down, see the ball deeper this time, use the big part of the field. Nice win for us."

 

 

Following the game, Bruján spoke to the media and noted that slowing the game down truly helped him as well as recognizing that the difference between Monday and Tuesday was all mental for him.

"I was very anxious," said Bruján through a translator on what happened on Monday. "I was just very interested in for whatever was coming. Today I was more relaxed. I was telling myself, 'You're at home, you're listening to the music you like and just relax.' I was more calm in the play and I was able to execute."

Excluding Bruján's walk-off single, the Marlins offense scored eight runs off of 14 hits. Jesús Sánchez was at the forefront of the Marlins offense going 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Bryan De La Cruz, Josh Bell, Tim Anderson and Christian Bethancourt all had multi-hit games.

Sánchez's home run came in the bottom of the first inning. Trailing 2-0 with runners on the corners, Cardinals starter Lance Lynn threw a slider that Sánchez was able to take 418 feet deep to right-center field for a three-run homer. That wasn't even his hardest hit of the game—Sánchez later added a single with a 112.3 mph exit velocity.

"He's locked in right now," said Schumaker. "If we can get him somehow to be consistent, this guy is gonna be really good because nobody in the league hits the ball as hard as he can. There are guys like (Giancarlo) Stanton and (Aaron) Judge. He's literally in that club."

Trailing 7-5, catcher Christian Bethancourt hit his second home run of the season to put Miami within one. The ball left the bat at 102.0 mph and went 388 feet to left field. Bethancourt also drove in another run prior to that with a groundout, marking his first game of the season with multiple RBIs.

Tim Anderson's recent turnaround continues to impress. Since coming off the bereavement list, Anderson is 14-for-34 (.412 BA). He also stole a base and scored a run on Tuesday.

Marlins starter Roddery Muñoz struggled after what was the best start of his Major League career. In the top of the first inning, he surrendered a home run to Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to give St. Louis an early 2-0 lead. The second home run was given up to Brendan Donovan in the top of the second inning to retake the lead, 4-3. The final home run was hit by Alec Burleson in the top of the fourth inning to extend the lead to 7-4.

Overall, Muñoz allowed seven runs (six earned) off of eight hits and two walks. He only struck out three. Left-handed batters have been giving the rookie right-hander a lot of trouble and that was the case again vs. St. Louis.

With the win, the Marlins are now 24-49 on the season. Following the game, the Marlins announced that Yonny Chirinos would be the starting pitcher as they go into Wednesday's rubber match against the Cardinals. Kyle Gibson will take the mound for St. Louis. A pregame roster move will be needed to make room for Chirinos.

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

That was fun. Sanchez is streaking. Did anyone need the big hits as much as Bethancourt and Brujan? Let's take the series today.