30-year Marliniversary: Fish set club record with 4 triples in win over Giants

[Mike Ferguson]

After a dismal April and May, the 1995 Florida Marlins didn't have a losing month from June on.

On this day 30 years ago, the club didn't something it hadn't before or since: triple four times in one game. During what would be the franchise's first winning July, the Marlins accomplished the feat in a 9-3 win over the San Francisco Giants.

On July 25, 1995 at Joe Robbie Stadium, Florida started the day offensively with three triples in one inning. Greg Colbrunn's RBI triple off Terry Mulholland scored Quilvio Veras to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead. After Terry Pendleton popped out, Kurt Abbott and Russ Morman came through with back-to-back RBI triples. Steve Decker's RBI single capped a four-run first.

That would be all starter Bobby Witt would need for Florida. Witt took a perfect game into the fifth inning before giving up singles to Royce Clayton and Tom Lampkin. Lampkin's single plated a run but the Giants would do nothing else until the ninth inning. Witt ended up going the distance, allowing just three runs (two earned) on seven hits while fanning nine.

As for the Florida offense, it was quiet for four innings before finding its home run stroke in the sixth. After Abbott's two-run blast pushed the Marlins' lead to 6-1, Decker extended the advantage to six with as solo homer two batters later. 

Against José Bautista, the Marlins plated two more in the eighth. Decker followed Morman's lead-off single with Florida's fourth RBI triple of the day. He'd score on a sacrifice fly by Jerry Browne.

As a team, the Marlins finished with 15 hits. Decker and Pendleton each had three. Decker and Abbott each finished with two runs scored and three RBIs. Decker was a double short of the cycle. Barry Bonds and Clayton each had two of the seven hits for San Francisco.

Despite playing in cavernous home ballparks over the years and having a three-triple day from Xavier Edwards last season, the Marlins have tripled four times in a game just once. It happened on this day three decades ago. 

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