10-year Marliniversary: Johnson's walk-off double completes comeback vs. Padres

[Mike Ferguson]

The 2016 season didn’t close the way that the Miami Marlins would have hoped, but toward the end of August, the team was unquestionably in the playoff hunt. On this day 10 years ago, the Marlins opened a three-game series against the San Diego Padres with an improbable rally.

Down 6-2 through six and a half innings, the Marlins rallied with five unanswered runs. Chris Johnson’s walk-off ground-rule double completed the comeback in a 7-6 win.

San Diego had scored six straight runs as Miami came to bat in the bottom of the seventh at Marlins Park on Aug. 26, 2016. After driving in the game’s first run in the first, Marcell Ozuna cut the deficit to 6-3 with an RBI single to score J.T. Realmuto in the seventh.

The Marlins then drew even with three runs in the eighth. Against former Marlins lefty Brad Hand, Jeff Francouer and Robert Andino opened the inning with consecutive singles. After getting the forceout at third and striking out Johnson, however, Hand was one out away from keeping Miami off the board.

That out never came as Hand walked Realmuto to load the bases. San Diego turned to Brandon Maurer, who got ahead of both Martín Prado and Christian Yelich, but both came through with singles to centerfield on 1-2 pitches. Prado’s liner brought home two before Yelich’s second RBI of the game knotted the score at 6 apiece.

Fernando Rodney worked a 1-2-3 top of the ninth for the Marlins before Francouer’s third hit of the night – an infield single with one out – started the Miami rally in the bottom of the inning. After yielding a seven-pitch walk to pinch hitter Ichiro Suzuki, Maurer was able to strike out Miguel Rojas.

With two on and two outs, Johnson took Maurer’s 2-1 fastball to the gap in right-centerfield. Johnson’s shot landed just past the outstretched arm of San Diego’s Travis Jankowski, off the warning track and over the wall for the walk-off double.

Despite being forced to rally, the Marlins nearly doubled the Padres in the hit category, finishing with 13 to seven for San Diego. In addition to Francouer’s three knocks, Prado, Andino and Ozuna each had two hits for the Marlins.

Ryan Schimpf and Luis Sardiñas each homered for the Padres. Sardiñas finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBIs.

With the win, the Marlins improved to 67-61, but that’s as far over .500 as they would get for the remainder of the year. San Diego bounced back to take the next two games, which began a five-game losing streak for Miami to close August.

The final victory of August, however, was an absolute thriller. It featured the final win of Rodney’s short Marlins tenure and ended on the final extra-base hit of Johnson’s career. It happened on this day a decade ago.

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[Hans Herrera]

Same Chris Johnson who started barking at José after he hit his first home run the year before?