After beating the brakes off the Red Sox pitchers on Tuesday, the Marlins looked to Braxton Garrett to lock up a series win in Beantown. Three hours and 50 minutes (including a rain delay) later, A.J. Puk notched a save in a 6-2 victory. Let’s break it down.
The Marlins jumped out to an early lead for the second game in a row as Garrett Cooper banged a ball off the top of Monster that was originally ruled in play but was then called a home run to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead to leadoff the second. 102.9 MPH, 34° LA, 404 ft, HR in 19/30 ballparks.
It was a bullpen game for the Red Sox, so Nick Pivetta pitched scoreless frames in the third, fourth, and fifth. The Red Sox tied the game on Braxton Garrett’s lone mistake; a hanging curveball to Rafael Devers found its way into the seats to make it a 1-1 game in the fourth.
Then things got interesting. With the game tied in the top of the sixth inning and two Marlins’ on base in the form of Jorge Soler and Bryan De La Cruz, Jazz worked his way to a 1-2 count before the skies opened up and lightning struck the area. Home plate umpire Dan Bellino said, “Enough of this,” and called for the tarp to be brought out, officially putting the game in a rain delay.
With the delay lasting over an hour, Skip had no choice but to call an end to Braxton Garrett’s solid outing. Skip said that they intended to send Brax back out there for another inning had Mother Nature not intervened.
His final line: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 66/43 P/S.
After an hour and 13-minute delay, Josh Winckowski struck out Jazz on one pitch, and then all hell broke loose. Garrett Cooper walked to load the bases, and with Jean Segura at the plate, Josh sent a pitch to the backstop, allowing all the runners to move up and giving the Marlins a 2-1 lead. Braxton Garrett was now in line for a win.
Jean Segura then hit a high chopper that was booted by the second baseman, allowing two more runners to score to extend the lead to 4-1.
“When you put the ball in play, good things happen,” Schumaker said. The Marlins have done plenty of that lately with MLB’s fourth-lowest strikeout rate during the month of June (18.9 K%).
Skip went on to mention how much it means to his teammates when the hard work that Jean continues to put in every day finally pays off.
They extended their lead in the top of the eighth when Jazz clobbered a solo home run to dead center field off Chris Murphy (Jazz’s first homer against a lefty in 2023). 108.2 MPH, 27° LA, 439 ft. 5-1 Marlins.
Huascar Brazoban pitched a scoreless sixth inning and handed the ball to Andrew Nardi with two outs and a runner on second base in the seventh inning. Nardi struck out the only batter he faced to end the inning and give way to Tanner Scott, who worked a 1-2-3 eighth. Luis Arraez drove home Joey Wendle in the top of the ninth with a groundout to short, and Skip gave Dylan Floro the nod for the bottom of the ninth to try and close this game out.
After getting Rafael Devers to fly out for the first out, Floro allowed a run on three straight singles, which forced Skip to bring in his closer, A.J. Puk. He entered a save situation due to the tying run being in the on-deck circle. The game ended three pitches later as pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida grounded into an inning-ending double play. Marlins win 6-2.
Noah’s Notes and What’s Next
- Braxton Garrett was the winning pitcher and now has a 4-2 record this season.
- A.J. Puk recorded his 12th save.
- Time of game: 2 hours, 37 minutes (1:13 delay, 3:50 total)
- Fourth straight win for the Marlins, who are 10-3 in their last 13. They’ve won four of their last five road series and improved to 13 games over .500 for the first time since 2009. Their 19-7 record in interleague play is the best in MLB.
- First three-game series win against Boston since 1997.
- Hot bats:
- Bryan De La Cruz: 9-game hitting streak
- Luis Arraez: 11-game hitting streak
- Garrett Cooper: 8 RBI in his last 7 games
- Jazz Chisholm Jr.: HR in 3 of his last 4 games
- Joey Wendle: Hit in 17 of his last 19 games
- Jean Segura: 6 RBI in his last 7 games
- Basically, everyone is hot right now.
- Jesús Luzardo vs. Brayan Bello at 6:10 PM tomorrow (today).
- Marlins looking to get to 14 games over .500 for the first time since 2003.
- To sweep or not to sweep? That is the question.
- It’s me again on the coverage and recap.
- ‘Til Tmrw! (Today)
Photo courtesy of Miami Marlins
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