10-year Marliniversary: Marlins top Mariners on Stanton's walk-off slam

During his time with the Florida/Miami Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton hit three walk-off home runs, including two walk-off grand slams. The last of those came on this day 10 years ago as the right-handed slugger blasted the Miami Marlins past the Seattle Mariners, 8-4.

The Marlins hadn't scored since the third inning as they came to bat in the bottom of the ninth of a 4-4 game at Marlins Park on April 18, 2014. Facing Yoervis Medina, Miami needed to see only three pitches to put the winning run in scoring position.

The Marlins opened the inning with singles from Reed Johnson and Christian Yelich. On a bunt attempt by Marcell Ozuna, Seattle appeared to get Johnson, the lead runner, at third but a challenge by Miami proved fruitful as the review determined that Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager bobbled the ball. 

That set the stage for Stanton. 

With the bases loaded and nobody out, Stanton needed only a flyball to end the contest. Down 1-2 in the count, Stanton saw a breaking ball that hung over the middle of the plate—and he didn't miss it.

His blast to left-center field cleared the wall with ease for his second walk-off grand slam in 23 months. 

Stanton's bomb capped a 3-for-5 night in which he drove in five and scored twice. It also atoned for a fielding error by Stanton in the second inning that allowed two unearned runs to score and draw Seattle even.

The Marlins regained the lead in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly from Ozuna before pushing the advantage to 4-2 on a solo blast from catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Mariners used an RBI groundout from Brad Miller in the fifth and an RBI single from Corey Hart in the seventh to even the score.

Yelich also had a three-hit night for Miami in the win. Abraham Almonte, Seager, and Hart each finished with a pair of hits for the Mariners. While Medina took the loss for Seattle, Steve Cishek worked a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the win for Miami. 

A member of the New York Yankees since 2018, Stanton now has five walk-off home runs to his name. His last as a member of the Marlins came on this day a decade ago.