'We like playing the role of villain': Marlins essentially end Twins' season

The Miami Marlins are no stranger to the spoiler role.

Throughout their franchise history, Miami has had no choice but to be "that team," the team that, on paper, has nothing to play for...except breaking the hearts of a contender.

Most notably, the Marlins of 2007 and 2022 excelled in this role, as those squads snatched the Mets' and Brewers' playoff hopes away in the waning moments of the season. After an off-the-wall Thursday night in the Twin Cities, you can add the 2024 Marlins to that list.

"Out of respect for the game, you try to win the game, and we've been trying to disrupt the situation in certain divisions and playoff races, whether it was the Dodgers, the Braves or the Twins. And I felt like we know, we tried to do everything we could to win today's game." said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker after what ended up being a 13-inning, 8-6 Marlins victory over a desperate Twins team. "The players did that. It wasn't nothing I did. The players executed when in leveraged spots and made great plays when they had to, made pitches when they had to, and put together the at-bats when they needed it. So yeah, they played it like it was a playoff game. Just proud of the outcome."

Through five innings, a four-hour battle seemed out of the cards as Valente Bellozo stifled Twins bats with his patented pop-up-inducing stuff. Bellozo's start coupled with two RBI from Jake Burger had Miami in command.

Things changed in the sixth—and fast—when Bellozo was pulled with just 74 pitches and 4-1 lead. Minnesota's offense struck for a run in the seventh and an ever-important two in the eighth to knot things at four. Brooks Lee, who the Marlins infamously passed on back in the 2022 MLB Draft, delivered a massive 2-RBI double.

In extras, though, Derek Hill, Anthony Maldonado and Griffin Conine played hero for not just the Marlins, but the Royals and  Tigers as well.

In the 10th, Hill traveled 118 feet to make an incredible falling catch that kept the Marlins alive.

Miami failed to score in both the 11th and 12th, but awful situational hitting and stellar high-leverage relief work from Maldonado kept the game rolling.

As the contest entered its fourth hour, Miami's offense came around to make the Twins pay. Otto Lopez pushed across the first run in what felt like days, before Griffin Conine—who didn't even enter the game until extras—came through with a 2-RBI flare single in his second at-bat that ended up being the difference.

"All through the first eight, nine innings, obviously I wasn't in there and in the cage, just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. And sure enough, I didn't know it would come in extra innings, but I'm glad I was staying locked in and getting work in," noted Conine. "We like playing the role of villain. We want to be the spoilers. That's what we said going in, and we got a couple good wins in the series, which is awesome."

On August 17, the Twins were 17 games above .500 and were battling with Cleveland for AL Central supremacy. Now, for all intents and purposes, their season will not continue into October, as FanGraphs has their playoff odds at a slim 3.3%. Minnesota's "tragic number" has dropped to just one, leaving them zero margin for error this weekend while praying that either Detroit or Kansas City gets swept against the White Sox or Braves, respectively.

Of Note

- Lost in the eventual madness was Bellozo's on-brand season finale. As he's done since being called up three months ago, Bellozo leaned on flyouts to an almost-absurd degree. Eight of the 15 outs the righty recorded came in the air. Bellozo finishes his rookie campaign with a 3.67 ERA, a sizable difference from his 5.73 FIP.

- Xavier Edwards dealt with a rough couple of weeks after being on the IL, but he found his swing in the Twin Cities. Miami's shortstop finished with six hits, three RBI and two walks when it was all said and done in Minnesota.

- Jesús Sánchez delivered a three-hit game, with two of the knocks coming in extras.

- After it was nearly unhittable for a month-plus, Jesús Tinoco finally ran into some trouble with his slider:

- Jonah Bride was just another Marlin who raked in the second to last set of the year. The Marlins infielder went 6-for-14 with two doubles and a home run. His season OPS+ now stands at 111.

Up Next

The Marlins begin their final series of the season Friday night, north of the border in Toronto. The set marks the first time Miami has visited the Rogers Centre since mid-June of 2015! This was the starting lineup for manager Dan Jennings:

Fast forward nine years later and Adam Oller toes the slab opposing José Berríos in this edition of Marlins-Jays. Oller was solid in his last outing Saturday against the Braves, going 5 ⅔ innings allowing just two runs to come across as the 29-year-old continues to impress as a Marlin. First pitch from Canada is slated for 7:07 pm.