MIAMI—The Miami Marlins have dropped their sixth consecutive series. The Marlins came from behind and tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, erasing what was once a 4-0 deficit. However, they couldn’t keep pace with the Toronto Blue Jays through twelve innings in what was ultimately a 7-6 loss.
Right-handed pitcher Janson Junk got the start for the Marlins. He left the ballgame with right arm discomfort after throwing his 92nd pitch of the contest. Junk threw 5 ⅔ innings, allowing six hits, three runs, one walk, and three strikeouts.
After the game, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough broke down Junk’s early exit: “I saw him shake his arm after the last pitch, went out there, and he mentioned some forearm discomfort. We have to get some further evaluation before we have a clear picture of what might be the issue.”
“I felt something in my forearm,” Junk told the media after the game. “It was nothing painful, but the trainer came out and wanted to be cautious.”
Left-handed pitcher Cade Gibson came in relief for Junk. After Ty France was intentionally walked, Myles Straw pinch-hit for Nathan Lukes and walked in a run, giving Toronto a 3-0 lead. Tyler Phillips would give up a solo home run to George Springer in his one inning of work.
The Marlins’ offense got off to a very slow start and didn’t come alive until the bottom of the seventh. The offense started to click after two one-out singles by Liam Hicks and Eric Wagaman.
Troy Johnston would drive in Miami’s first run of the ballgame with an RBI single to center field. The Fish would continue to cut into their deficit with an RBI double by Javier Sanoja and a pinch-hit RBI single by Otto Lopez, who had been out of the starting lineup lately due to a stomach illness.
Typically used in low-leverage situations, right-hander Tyler Zuber was the most effective Miami reliever of the game. He retired six of the seven batters he faced over the course of two scoreless innings.
In the bottom of the ninth, Wagaman led off the inning with a walk and was pinch-run for by Derek Hill. The 29-year-old outfielder immediately stole second and advanced to third on a deep fly by Johnston. Sanoja would deliver in the clutch with an RBI single to CF and tie the game for the Fish, forcing it into extra innings.
Ronny Henriquez pitched in the tenth and allowed one unearned run on a sac fly to right field. Calvin Faucher worked the eleventh and twelfth innings, allowing only the automatic runners on second base to score in each frame.
The Marlins would keep pace with the Blue Jays in the tenth and eleventh, but couldn’t get the extra hit to win the game. Jakob Marsee doubled to left-center in the tenth and Sanoja singled through the right side in the eleventh.
In the bottom of the 12th, Xavier Edwards ripped a grounder to the SS and Lopez made a baserunning mistake, hesitating too long before returning to second and getting caught trying to diving back in. Marsee lined out to center field, then Agustín Ramírez smoked a grounder directly at Bichette. He fielded it cleanly and Edwards was out at second to end the ballgame.
It was an uncharacteristic 0-for-6 effort at the plate for Edwards, dropping the National League batting title contender to .293 on the season (fifth among NL qualifiers as of this writing).
Worth noting, the announced attendance on Saturday was 24,943. That’s the fifth-largest crowd for a game at loanDepot park this season, trailing only the games against the New York Yankees and Opening Day.
What’s next?
The Marlins will look to avoid the sweep in the series finale versus the Blue Jays. Right-handed pitcher Eury Pérez will be on the mound for the Marlins. Pérez was pitched well in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, posting a 5-3 record with a 3.48 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.01 WHIP, and 66 strikeouts in 64 ⅔ innings pitched.
Veteran right-hander Kevin Gausman will get the start for Toronto. The two-time All-Star has an 8-9 record, 3.78 ERA, and a 1.06 WHIP (on pace to be the second-best mark of his 13-year MLB career). The first pitch for Sunday’s series finale is at 1:40 pm EST.