SEA 1, MIA 3; Marlins rally against Ray, remain NL’s hottest team

The Marlins scored three in the fifth to extend their winning streak.

The Miami Marlins are in the win column again after their 3-1 win versus the Seattle Mariners Saturday night. It extends their winning streak to seven games and clinches series win over the Mariners.

Miami had quality pitching from their staff including their starter, Jesús Luzardo. The Fish bullpen did create some drama later in the game, but halted the Mariners from scoring against them.

Luzardo made his fourth start of the season and continues to impress in his second season in Miami. The left-hander pitched six innings allowing two hits, one run, two walks, and five strikeouts.

Right-handed pitcher Anthony Bass came out of the bullpen for the Marlins in the top of the seventh. Bass had a quality inning of work as he struck out two batters and the only hit he allowed was a weakly hit grounder down the third base line against the shift.

Cole Sulser came in relief for the Marlins in the top of the eighth. After walking Mariners rookie outfielder Julio Rodríguez, Sulser was able to get Jarred Kelenic to roll into a 1-6-3 double play and Abraham Toro lined out to center field.

The Marlins didn’t do much offensively against reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray and the Mariners bullpen. To maximize their platoon advantage against Ray, manager Don Mattingly removed all of his lefty bats from the lineup (Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jesús Sánchez and Joey Wendle). Third baseman Brian Anderson was the only Marlin to have a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4 with a double and scored once. Anderson was also very active defensively, recording six assists and three putouts.

“It was awesome just to be involved in the game,” Anderson said after the game. “Obviously, you don’t expect to get that many ground balls or liners with a lefty pitching but I was happy I was a part of it and trying to keep things rolling.”

The Marlins scored all of their runs in the bottom of the fifth that started with a ground-rule double to left. Anderson advances to second on a flyout but would score on an RBI single by Bryan De La Cruz.

Jon Berti would later give the Marlins the lead with an RBI single to right field to score De La Cruz. Garrett Cooper had a big at-bat in the fifth as he drew a bases-loaded walk to extend Miami’s lead 3-1.

The Marlins were able to extend their winning streak in front of a packed house on University of Miami night. The paid attendance for Saturday’s game was 29,010, the second-largest LoanDepot Park crowd this season (trailing only the April 14 home opener).

The Marlins definitely felt the crowd’s energy was able to feed off that energy in Saturday’s win over the Mariners. “I can’t remember that I’ve seen that many people since Opening Day,” Anderson told Fish Stripes. “We’re just trying to win for those people and keep it rolling and keep that momentum going.”

Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

Baseball Savant

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What’s next?

The Marlins will look to complete the sweep Sunday afternoon against the Mariners. Right-handed pitcher Sandy Alcantara will be on the mound for the Marlins. Alcantara has been excellent to start the season with a 2-0 record, 1.78 ERA, and a 1.18 WHIP.

The Seattle Mariners will give right-handed pitcher Logan Gilbert the start. Gilbert has been one of the best pitchers in baseball so far—he has a 3-0 record with a 0.40 ERA, which is second-best among MLB qualifiers behind Miami’s Pablo López.

First pitch for Sunday’s series finale is at 1:40 pm EST on Bally Sports Florida.