It turned out to be the final play of the game and it could end up being a very costly one for the Miami Marlins.
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But Marlins left fielder Christian Yelich made a ideal throw, and catcher Jeff Mathis held on to the ball as Sanchez bowled him over, preserving a 5-4 Marlins victory. He attempted to stretch a single into a double with the Marlins trailing by a run.
“I’ve got to be at home plate for that”, he said. “That was pretty cool”.
Cabrera struck out on a 2-2 pitch, but the ball got away from catcher J.T Realmuto and Cabrera raced to first. Although A-Rod is a big name, he will not help the Marlins win. Entering Sunday, they ranked 20th in Major League Baseball in extra-base hits.
Marlins: RHP David Phelps (5-6, 2.40) is scheduled to start Monday when Miami begins a four-game series at Cincinnati.
Right-hander Tom Koehler proved a worthy stand-in for Jose Fernandez in what was to have been a duel of All-Stars with Chicago’s Chris Sale.
Martin Prado’s run-scoring single in the seventh off Sale put the Marlins ahead to stay. He leads Miami in home runs, RBI (70) and slugging percentage (.496).
Fernando Rodney got his third save for Miami despite allowing three hits in the ninth, including a solo homer by Tim Anderson. “I don’t have a lot of hits”.
That was the fourth consecutive hit to open the inning.
With Stanton out, Ichiro Suzuki is a candidate to receive increased playing time. Stanton was thrown out at second base to end the game and appeared to collapse right before the bag with a lower body injury.
He and Justin Morneau both played key roles in an eighth-inning White Sox rally from a second deficit after James Shields blew an early 4-0 lead. Through 74 games, he had 27 homers and 67 RBIs. He reached third with no outs but was stranded after Sale picked up two straight strikeouts and Saladino made a stellar catch in shallow center field.Robert Andino and Jeff Mathis – Sale’s strikeout victims in that second-inning escape – produced singles to start the fifth inning.
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Ditto for Shields courtesy of the offense’s best night since July 8 and six scoreless innings by the bullpen. On Saturday, he allowed five earned runs on five hits and four walks in just four innings. “We’ll see what happens with that”. “We needed to find a way to win”. He may add pop to the Marlins lineup that is needed without Stanton, but he has not played the field all year and will significantly hurt the team defense at first. That doesn’t sound worth it. NL rosters require more flexibility the American League teams.
