McCullough presses right buttons in Marlins comeback win

[Kevin Barral]

Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough is certainly not above criticism when his in-game decisions backfire. Just last week, there was a prime example of that.

On the other hand, you have to give McCullough credit when those same sort of moves are ordered correctly and produce positive results. That was the case Monday night against the Colorado Rockies in a 10-7 win.

In the top of the fifth inning, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer took out left-handed starter Sean Sullivan and went to righty Victor Vodnik. Leo Jimenez, who was supposed to hit in that spot and already had an RBI double in his first at-bat of the game, was taken out and Griffin Conine entered the game to pinch-hit for him. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Vodnik served up a changeup that Conine clobbered 433 feet slamming into the third deck in right field, giving the Marlins a 6-5 lead.

"Looking at today with their only lefty, he had thrown back-to-back days, potentially he could have come in, but that would have Griff and Owen (Caissie) and even Graham (Pauley) ready to come pinch-hit in those spots," McCullough said. "The first shot there with some guys on, I felt like it was a moment, and then Griff was gonna be the first bat off the bench."

Conine has missed most of the season due to a left hamstring tear. He has played in seven games since coming off the injured list. His home run marked his first career pinch-hit home run and the third by a Marlin this season. It also was the longest home run of his career.

"Anytime you are going into the game in a big spot, you just get as much as you can on the guy before you go up there and try to get a good pitch," Conine told the Marlins Radio Network postgame. "He threw me two changeups in a row and that definitely helped out the timing and I didn't miss the second one." 

Sandy Alcantara made his final start in the month of June, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, walked five and struck out three. In the top of the sixth inning, McCullough came out to chat with Alcantara and after a couple second, he was out of the game. McCullough turned to Michael Petersen who got out of the inning, allowing Alcantara to stay in line for what was his sixth win.

"What makes Mike so special for us is that he is very good versus left and he's good versus right," McCullough said. "Having that neutrality, we liked him versus (Jake) McCarthy either way, and that his ability to come into any spot versus any sided hitter is a big deal."

Alcantara becomes the third pitcher in Marlins franchise history to post a 6-0 record in one month, joining José Fernández (6-0 in May 2016) and Chris Hammond (6-0 in June 1993). He finishes the month of June with a 3.35 ERA in 40 1/3 innings of work. In that span, Alcantara completed seven innings or more in three straight starts and now has the most strikeouts in franchise history.

The final button pressed by the skipper was when he decided to pinch-hit for Esteury Ruiz with Owen Caissie in the top of the seventh inning. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Caissie knocked in a single off Rockies reliever Antonio Senzatela. He later scored a run on a Javier Sanoja RBI triple. Caissie finished his night going 2-for-2, bumping his OPS to .827 in the month of June.

The Marlins have tied a franchise record with 19 wins in the month of June, first accomplished by the 2023 club. The Marlins join Atlanta (19-9 in April) and Milwaukee (19-7 in May) as the only teams in the majors this season to collect at least 19 wins in a calendar month.

"This has been a really big month for Sandy," McCullough said. "During this run, he has really been on the attack. Coming into this game, if he's not leading the league in innings, he's right there. He has efficiently done his work, and he's continued to fill it up. I think that we've seen a guy who's certainly been there, done that, and with the situation we've been in recently, where we've patched things together on some days with our pitching, that what Sandy does on the days he gets the ball, we generally count on him going deep and giving us a chance."

With the win, the Marlins move to 45-40 on the season. When it comes to the NL Wild Card race, the Marlins find themselves in a virtual tie with the St. Louis Cardinals for the third spot, with the Cardinals just barely leading in terms of win percentage (.531 to .529).

Eury Pérez takes the mound on Tuesday for his second start since coming off the injured list. First pitch is at 8:40 pm ET.

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