Marlins put exclamation mark on May with walk-off win

MIAMI — It began out with a stroll. Well, technically it began with eight scoreless innings. But when it actually mattered, it was a leadoff stroll within the ninth inning that received the ball rolling for the Marlins on Wednesday evening at loanDepot park.

Entering the ninth inning, down one run and having floor into three double performs, Miami was in want of the clutch hitting that had eluded the membership of late. Rather than flip to the bench, supervisor Skip Schumaker put his belief in the course of his lineup. And it paid off.

Stringing collectively that leadoff stroll, a sac bunt, two singles and a stolen base off of San Diego’s Josh Hader, one of many premier closers in baseball, the Marlins put an emphatic exclamation mark on the month of May and walked off the Padres, 2-1, to even the collection and enter June with a profitable report (29-27), the newest Miami has had a report above .500 in a non-shortened season since August 2017.

“That was awesome,” stated starter Braxton Garrett, who held the Padres to at least one run on two hits and didn’t permit a stroll till the sixth inning whereas placing out seven. “There’s no quit in this team. Josh Hader coming in — one of the best closers in the game — there’s never a doubt. We believe in each other. We believe we’re gonna get one across, at least one, there. This team just has no quit.”

It was among the extra unlikely heroes on Wednesday evening that got here via clutch. Yuli Gurriel, who hadn’t reached base all evening, labored the leadoff stroll in opposition to Hader. Then Joey Wendle, who struck out pinch-hitting for Jon Berti within the seventh inning, laid down a sacrifice bunt that was as excellent because it will get.

Jean Segura, who entered the evening hitting .198 this season, ripped an RBI single via the left aspect. As Gurriel powered round third and scored, making the most of some defensive confusion from the Padres, Segura sidled into second.

Catcher Nick Fortes adopted that with a walk-off single that sliced down the first-base line, his second profession walk-off and the Marlins’ third walk-off win this season.

“Shoot, just happiness, joy,” Fortes stated when requested what he felt rounding first earlier than being mobbed by his teammates. “[I was] glad we won. Just a hard-fought game in all facets of the game. So to hit that and see it go through the hole was awesome.”

While the walk-off was particular for Fortes, it maybe meant extra to Segura, whose ninth-inning knock marked his five hundredth profession RBI and who’s nicely conscious of his personal struggles of late.

“That at-bat brings my confidence back a little bit,” Segura stated. “To win against Hader, it’s a good one. … I know I’m struggling, it’s no secret — the numbers show it. And I just come here, and you know, keep at it, keep playing, keep playing the right way, go hard about my business, trying to do the best I can to help this team. You know, hopefully this will turn around, and [I] continuously [get better], because I’ll be honest, it feels [crappy]. It feels bad.”

Segura added, in Spanish: “This is a tough game that can put you down really quickly. It’s up to the player how long they’re going to let it kick their [butt]. As a player, you have to find a way out of that stinking environment. … It’s very easy to smile and be a good teammate when you’re doing well, but it’s very difficult to be when you’re not doing well.”

But Segura appears to be discovering that clutch gene once more, as do the Marlins as an entire. Miami started the season a record-setting 12-0 in one-run video games for probably the most consecutive wins in video games determined by one run in AL/NL historical past. Since then, it’s been extra of a blended bag. Wednesday, although, appeared like a turning level for each the third baseman and the ballclub.

“[He’s] working hard to fight through this thing,” Schumaker stated. “Hard work equals good luck. You hear that all the time, and for him to see it through and get that big hit … he’s had big hit after big hit lately. Clutch player; he’s a winning player.”

Perhaps Garrett summed it up the very best when describing the completely different power surrounding the Marlins this season and their seemingly innate capacity to show that even once they’re down, they’re not out.

“We got a few new guys who come from winning organizations and just — the mentality is great,” Garrett stated. “We’re always locked in. We’re just a good team.”