25-year Marliniversary: Owens' 10th-inning blast off Wagner propels Fish past Astros

Over his two seasons with the Florida Marlins, outfielder Eric Owens hit just nine home runs. Three of those, however, came in his first month with the club.

On this day 25 years ago, Owens had perhaps his biggest blast with the Fish. His solo shot in the 10th inning off future Hall of Fame closer Billy Wagner lifted the Marlins to a thrilling 9-8 win over the Houston Astros.

The Marlins had raced to a 5-0 lead at Enron Park on April 27, 2001. By the end of the fifth inning, however, that advantage had become an 8-5 deficit, thanks in part to a grand slam by Houston infielder Julio Lugo.

Scoreless for four innings, the Florida bats came back to life in the seventh inning. Álex González’s RBI double cut the deficit to 8-6 before Cliff Floyd tied things up with a two-run home run off Mike Jackson an inning later.

On the mound, Braden Looper and Antonio Alfonseca were able to work around errors in the eighth and ninth innings to keep the score tied. As the contest went to extra innings, Houston turned to Wagner.

To open the 10th inning, the hard-throwing lefty got Luis Castillo to fly out. That brought Owens to the plate.

With the count 2-2, Owens was able to drive Wagner’s fastball to right field and over the wall for the go-ahead home run. Wagner bounced back to retire Floyd and Preston Wilson, but the damage was done. In the bottom of the 10th, Alfonseca sealed the win with a 1-2-3 frame, striking out former Florida World Series hero Moisés Alou and Richard Hidalgo.

On a night where the teams combined for 17 runs, they also combined for 23 hits. Owens had five of those, finishing with four runs scored. Floyd added three hits and three runs scored in the win. Mike Lowell drove in three runs.

Hidalgo had a nice night for Houston, going 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Alou was 2-for-5 with two runs.

Over nine seasons in the big leagues, Owens hit just 26 career home runs. His lone blast in extra innings came off a Hall of Famer and as a member of the Marlins. It happened on this day a quarter-century ago.