Fish rout Snakes behind big fourth, Stowers and Caissie homers

[Nate Karzmer]

MIAMI—A 7-1 record, top-five OPS and the second-lowest ERA in baseball. Few things go together like the month of June and Marlins baseball.

That sentiment was echoed once more Wednesday night in a contest that was decided essentially within an hour and a half of first pitch. A six-run fourth inning and group shutout powered Miami to a dominant 8-0 series-clinching win over the visiting Diamondbacks, their seventh in eight efforts. They climb to just two games under .500 and remain 2.5 games out of a wild-card spot courtesy of the continued surge.

"We dug ourselves a bit of a hole, but now we're playing much better here the last ten days or so" said manager Clayton McCullough postgame, "It's always going to go back to our ability to pitch and play and play defense. I think both those areas we can continue to get better, but right now we're doing a really nice job."

The southpaw duo of Owen Caissie and Kyle Stowers headlined Miami's mid-game avalanche, blasting their sixth and fifth home runs of the season, respectively. Both shots registered an 110 mph exit velocity, although the latter was more majestic, finding the second deck and resulting in a rare bat flip from the slugger.

Like his club, Stowers' stock has risen now a third into the month. 9 RBI and a .740 OPS in eight games have been just what the doctor ordered for a team desperate for the slug their All-Star of a year ago provides.

"Kyle's been on the barrel a lot more of late, and what he can bring to our offense is no secret," said McCullough. "He has the ability to carry you with some swings at the right times with people on, and he certainly has shown that. He's certainly a huge part of our lineup in the middle there, and with how much the guys in front are getting on base, and his ability to drive them in is a big thing for us."

Additional multi-hit nights from Liam Hicks, Otto Lopez, who tallied two more RBI as he builds his All-Star case, and Heriberto Hernandez tallied behind Caissie in Stowers in Miami's latest high-scoring day.

"We've done it offensively in a variety of ways" said McCullough. "Otto again tonight with a couple more big hits, Liam had a really good night swinging the bat, and then you get the home runs. I think offensively, we've done a nice job during this stretch of getting done in a variety of ways."

Not to be lost in the offensive explosion was the latest impressive bullpen game for a multitude of Marlins relievers.

Ryan Gusto led the way with four innings of three-hit, four-strikeout ball, a solid step forward following two sideways outings in his return to the bigs.

"I'm really happy about it," said Gusto of his outing. "I think it's something to build off of. I think they'll let that pitch count, getting comfortable to that starter role is something that's really good for me."

"The work with the pitching coaches in between starts was huge," replied Gusto when asked what adjustments he made from his previous appearance. "I think that we were able to do a lot of quality work on my bullpen in between starts, and I mean that comes back to the routine that we're building, right? So, a couple like interesting outings out of the bullpen-shorter ones-and then now that we had like a full five days to line up for start, I feel like it was really helpful in that aspect to get some quality work in between."

A three-man effort of Lake Bachar, William Kempner and Cade Gibson rounded out the superb day from Miami's arms. Kempner recorded his first win in the bigs because Gusto was removed to early to be eligible.

"Our pitching staff overall, from starters to relievers, is nasty," said Kempner of the 'pen. "When you put our guys out there, we know they have a chance, no matter who it is. The stuff in there is absolutely gross."

Making his third appearance as a starter, Tyler Phillips takes the ball for McCullough in Thursday afternoon's 1:10 EST finale opposite Merrill Kelly. A sweep and fifth consecutive victory in the matinee would mark Miami's longest winning streak of the season.

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