Fish drop a dozen to exit Coliseum victorious

To say the Marlins had a wild weekend would be a criminal understatement.

Inside of ten minutes before first pitch of the club's three-game series against the Athletics on Friday, news broke that Luis Arraez—the reigning NL batting champion—was being traded to the San Diego Padres for a package of four players. 

Saturday's slated 4:07 EST start was delayed some three-and-a-half hours due to rare California rains. When play finally commenced just shy of 5 p.m. on the West Coast, the A's laid waste to Miami pitching to the tune of 20 runs on the strength of 6 home runs, highlighted by a 10-run third inning. 

Less than 24 hours after soon-to-be-former-Oakland A's put up double-digits in the R-column, the Marlins returned to the Coliseum for the fourteenth and final time hoping to exit with a regained sense of confidence. 

On Sunday, however, in the words of Bally's play-by-play voice Paul Severino, "what a difference a day makes," as it would be the Miami bats laying waste to opposing pitching in their 12-3 victory, their first in the post-Luis Arraez era.

"We stayed back last night, watched some film, and just decided to go out there and have fun," said protagonist Nick Gordon.

"We got our butt kicked last night," noted Skip Schumaker. "Up-and-down the order it was really good today, especially against the right-handers...taking our walks and staying in the strike zone." 

Miami's .650 OPS against right-handed pitching ranks 25th through play Sunday.

Facing rookie Joe Boyle—owner of the second-worst BB/9 (6.8) among the 121 pitchers to throw at least 25 innings entering play Sunday—the Marlins fed off the power righties suspect command, drawing back-to-back-to-back walks to open the festivities. Leadoff hitter Jazz Chisholm Jr. continued the early Miami momentum, stealing second and third base. 

After a Jesús Sánchez forceout put Miami on the board, the aforementioned-Gordon's fourth home run of the year, a two-out, three-run blast to deep right-center, made it a 4-0 Marlins affair. Gordon would finish the day 4-for-4, falling just a triple shy of the second cycle in club history (Arraez, 4/11/23). Boyle would last just the one inning before being relieved by Mitch Spence. 

Though not throwing with the increased fastball velocity he showed in his previous 2 starts, Sixto Sánchez limited the Oakland lineup to a pair of runs over his 4 innings of work, walking 3 and punching out 2. Should Miami continue to run him out there, the hope is he can limit the traffic, as opposing offenses are hitting .366 (15-for-41) against him in his 3 starts this season. 

In relief of Sánchez, the Marlins bullpen, after coughing up 13 runs the night before, worked 5 innings of 1-run ball.

Leading 8-3 in the top of the ninth, the Marlins touched up longtime reliever T.J. McFarland for a 4-spot—their second-such inning of the day—to increase their lead to 9. In the victory, Miami saw contributions from Christian Bethancourt, who collected a pair of hits and an RBI after beginning his Marlins tenure 1-for-38. Recently recalled and former A's draft pick Jonah Bride pitched in with a pair of RBI against his former club.

Of Note

- With his first-inning home run, Nick Gordon surpassed his brother and former Marlin Dee with career home run number 19.

- Miami improves to 6-1 in games following ones in which they've allowed at least 20 runs. 

- Sunday saw the Major League debut of Eli Villalobos, who worked a scoreless bottom of the ninth, striking out Abraham Toro to secure his first career strikeout and win for Miami. 

Looking Ahead

Miami will continue this west coast road trip on Monday when they head south to Chavez Ravine to begin a series against the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Roddery Muñoz (1-0, 2.45 ERA) will look to keep the good times rolling in what will be his third career start. Monday's series opener will mark the return of Walker Buehler (115 G, 3.02 ERA) in what will be his first appearance since June 10, 2022 after undergoing both Tommy John and flexor tendon surgeries. 

First pitch from Dodger Stadium is slated for 10:10 EST.