After sweeping the Washington Nationals in three games, and now defeating the Astros who hold first place in the AL West, the Miami Marlins are looking unstoppable right now. Miami has now won four games in a row and six out of their last eight.
The Marlins’ win over the Astros is not only huge because they came into the game as the underdog, but they also give themselves a leg up over the Astros heading into the next two games of the series. Plus, Houston has been elite at home this season, meaning it’s been hard for any team to grab victories at Minute Maid Park.
Recap
Jazz Chisholm Jr. wasted no time to start things off for Miami. On the first at-bat of the game, Astros pitcher Luis Garcia delivered a high ball that Chisholm turned into a home run into the Marlins bullpen in right field. Later that inning, Jesus Aguilar smacked a solo home run, this time into the patio deck into left field. The home runs came aplenty in the first inning, as Houston responded with Michael Brantley’s 402 feet solo shot in the bottom of the inning.
The score stayed at 2-1 Marlins until the fifth inning. This time, with a full count and a runner on first, Chisholm sent a ball over the right center field fence, bringing in two runs for the Fish.
Jesus Aguilar felt the need to continue the replica of the first inning, so he once again homered, and his as well, was a two-run shot that brought in Garrett Cooper. The Marlins took four away from the ‘Stros in the top of the 5th, and now were leading 6-1.
The Astros, looking to hold their spot as the best team in the AL West, obviously wanted to respond to the unstoppable Marlins offense, so they created some offense themselves. First, Yordan Alvarez found himself in a position with Michael Brantley on second and Alex Bregman on first. He singled to right field and sent Brantley home and Bregman to third. Kyle Tucker took advantage of the momentum as well, grounding into a fielder’s choice in right field, which allowed Bregman to come home and the Astros generated some small ball offense and made it a 6-3 game. Kyle Tucker homered in the bottom of the seventh, but that was the extent of the Astros scoring, and no team scored in the eighth or ninth.
The Astros were down by only three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but Tanner Scott came in and pitched lights out with a 10-pitch inning that sent down the Astros in order. It was Scott’s fourth save of the season, and his third save in his last five outings.
As for the pitching, the Marlins turned to a bunch of pitchers. Six different pitchers saw the rubber at Minute Maid Park, starting with Pablo Lopez. Lopez has a 2.30 ERA on the year. He let up two runs Friday night, and struck out five. Also seeing the mound Friday were Richard Bleier, Dylan Floro, Steven Okert, and Cole Sulser.
The Marlins have an important stretch of games up ahead, as they’re now just two games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.
On Saturday, the Marlins will start Braxton Garrett, who will face the Astros at 4:10 PM EST. Can the Marlins grab a win in Game 2 to take the series victory?