PHOENIX (AP) — The Miami Marlins have had a forgettable season and will almost certainly barrel past the 100-loss mark before the end of September.
But for one night, their offense looked nearly unstoppable. Miguel Rojas said the Marlins will take all the good vibes they can get as they try to build toward a better season in 2020.
The 30-year-old Rojas had a career-high six RBIs, including a crucial three-run double , and Miami rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-6 on Tuesday night.
“It’s all about who wants to be here in this clubhouse and who wants to be part of what we’re doing here in Miami,” Rojas said. “It’s a great opportunity for everybody to start playing for their job for next year.”
The Marlins pounded 17 hits to beat Arizona for the fourth time in six tries this year.
The Diamondbacks’ slim playoff hopes took another hit with the loss: They’re 5 ½ games behind the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers for the second NL wild-card spot with 10 to play.
The Diamondbacks led 4-2 after five innings. Left-hander Alex Young had a solid start, giving up two runs. Matt Andriese (5-5) came on in relief and gave up three runs — all with two outs in the sixth — when Rojas hit his bases-clearing double that barely stayed inside the left-field line.
The Marlins extended their lead to 10-4 in the seventh with five more runs. Miami sent nine batters to the plate during the rally, which was capped by Rojas’ two-run single. Arizona’s Jimmie Sherfy gave up all five runs without recording an out, and his ERA spiked from 2.51 to 5.65.
“It was good to get some offense going, score some runs,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said. “You get late, and you’re still not comfortable. So all the runs you can get, you feel good about getting.”
Caleb Smith (9-10) got the win, giving up four runs over five innings. Bryan Holaday had three hits, including his fourth homer of the season. Rojas had three doubles — in the third, sixth and ninth innings — and finished with four hits.
“I don’t really want to talk about me today,” Rojas said. “It was a great team win. I couldn’t be prouder of the guys, the way we played the game today.”
Kevin Cron hit a pinch-hit, solo homer for the Diamondbacks. It was his sixth in the big leagues. He hit 39 homers in the minors this season, mostly at Triple-A Reno.
The Diamondbacks had 13 hits, but the team’s relievers had a tough time getting outs.
“We just didn’t make pitches,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We didn’t execute a good game plan and we made mistakes in the middle of the zone. When pitchers make mistakes over the middle of the plate, big-league hitters will take advantage of that.”
BONK
Christian Walker was hit by a pitch in the first inning. It was the 67th time that’s happened to a Diamondbacks player this season, which tied a club record.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: Starting C Jorge Alfaro was hit on his non-throwing hand by Ildemaro Vargas’ bat in the first inning. Alfaro stayed in the game for the rest of the inning, but was replaced by Holaday in the second. The Marlins called the injury a contusion and Mattingly said after the game that an X-ray was negative.
Diamondbacks: CF Ketel Marte left the game in the fifth inning with back stiffness. He was 2 for 2 with a double before the injury. Lovullo said Marte would have “precautionary MRI” on Wednesday. … SS Nick Ahmed was scratched from the lineup a few hours before the game because of an injured finger on his throwing hand, which he hurt in Monday’s game. He is day-to-day. … RHP Luke Weaver (forearm tightness) threw a bullpen on Tuesday and Lovullo said Weaver might throw in a game before the end of the season on Sept. 29.
UP NEXT
Marlins: Miami will start RHP Sandy Alcantara (5-13, 3.93) on Wednesday.
Diamondbacks: Arizona RHP Mike Leake (11-11, 4.39) will start. He’s 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA over his last four starts.
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