5-year Marliniversary: Cooper's walk-off blast lifts Marlins past Mets

[Mike Ferguson]

An All-Star for the club in 2022, Garrett Cooper hit 52 home runs over his five-plus seasons as a member of the Miami Marlins. His lone walk-off blast came on this day five years ago.

In the middle game of a three-game series against the New York Mets, Cooper played the role of hero. Cooper worked a seven-pitch at-bat before his two-run shot lifted the Marlins to a 3-1 victory.

With the score tied 1-1 on May 22, 2021 at loanDepot park, the Mets turned to right-hander Drew Smith in the bottom of the ninth to try to get the game to extra innings. For Smith, the outing couldn’t have started much better.

Smith wound up throwing more pitches to Cooper than the three other hitters he faced combined. Smith opened the inning by getting Jesús Aguilar to line out before retiring Adam Duvall on a weak pop-up one pitch later. On the very next pitch, Brian Anderson singled to right field to set the stage for Cooper.

After working the count full, Cooper got a fastball up and connected big-time. On a pitch right down the middle, Cooper belted a no-doubter into “AutoNation Alley” in left-center field for the walk-off blast.

For six and a half innings, neither team scored. Miami’s Corey Dickerson broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly to score Anderson. The Mets drew even a half-inning later on Dominic Smith’s RBI single.

Cooper and Anderson each had three of the Marlins’ seven hits. On the mound, Pablo López allowed just four hits and a walk in seven shutout innings while striking out eight. Yimi García worked a scoreless ninth for Miami to pick up the win.

During his time with the Marlins, Cooper had more than his fair share of big hits, including a few timely home runs. His only career walk-off blast, however, came on this day five years ago.

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