Top 10 list
With the NL Wild Card race going right down to the wire, a look at 10 unlikely Marlins wins in 2023, every one of which might be necessary to put them over the top.
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Over the course of 162 games, every team in Major League Baseball—from the Braves to the Athletics—finds a way to win some games they have no business winning and also manages to lose some games that never should have been lost.
And despite how many times you hear, “It’s just one game,” or “It all evens out in the end,” when you get to late September and realize your favorite team’s playoff fate could be determined by the slimmest of margins, it’s hard to not think back on some of those nights defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory.
I recapped 10 such games yesterday.
But today, some happier memories for Marlins fans.
If the Marlins are in fact going to sneak into the playoffs by a game or 2 over the final 4 days of the season, each of these 10 most improbable victories will long be remembered as having been vital to the effort.
April 27 at Atlanta (Marlins 5, Braves 4)
Having lost 4 straight, including the first 3 games of a 4-game series at Truist Park, the Marlins fell behind the Braves 4-0 on the strength of a 4-run Atlanta 5th against Matt Barnes. 5 Braves pitchers had combined to limit the Marlins to 5 hits over the first 8 innings, and it was 4-0 into the 9th when Miami erupted for 5 runs on 6 hits off A.J. Minter and Jesse Chavez. Yuli Gurriel got the comeback started with a one-out RBI single. With 2 outs and the Marlins still trailing 4-1, Avisail Garcia delivered a pinch-hit RBI single, Jazz Chisholm singled home another run to make it 4-3 and Garrett Cooper’s 2-run double put Miami ahead. Dylan Floro then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th with a pair of punchouts, and the Marlins had escaped Atlanta with an improbable 5-4 win.
May 16 vs. Washington (Marlins 5, Nationals 4)
With the home team trailing 4-2 with 2 outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the 9th, there may not have been much reason for optimism among what was left of the crowd of 8,811. Hunter Harvey had made quick work of Joey Wendle and Garrett Hampson to begin the inning, but Garrett Cooper’s 2-out, 2-strike double gave the Marlins life. Luis Arraez followed with an RBI single on a 1-2 pitch, cutting the deficit to 4-3, and—on a 3-2 pitch—Jorge Soler hit a 99 MPH 4-seam fastball 405 feet out to left-center, lifting the Marlins to the 2nd of their 9 walk-off victories of the season.
May 31 vs. San Diego (Marlins 2, Padres 1)
The Marlins had been held to 4 singles through 8 innings by Blake Snell, who worked the first 6, Steven Wilson and Nick Martinez and had Josh Hader waiting for them in the 9th. But in the ultimate example of manufacturing some offense, Yuli Gurriel walked to put the tying run on, Joey Wendle sacrificed him to second base, Jean Segura singled him home to even the score and, importantly, advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Segura then stole third base and scored on Nick Fortes’ walk-off RBI single. The 9th-inning uprising accounts for 2 of only 7 earned runs Hader has allowed in 2023, as the 5-time All-Star carries a 1.18 ERA into the final days of the season. He’s only blown 2 saves since that night in May.
June 10 at Chicago (Marlins 5, White Sox 1)
It was another game in which the Marlins were shut down through 8 innings and trailed 1-0 despite Sandy Alcantara limiting the White Sox to a run on 3 hits over 7. Andrew Vaughn’s 4th inning homer accounted for the only run of the day until the Marlins came alive for 5 off of Joe Kelly and Garrett Crochet in the 9th. The Marlins managed only 3 hits in the inning, their fire fueled by 2 walks (one with the bases loaded) and an error.
June 11 at Chicago (Marlins 6, White Sox 5)
For the 2nd consecutive game, the Marlins bats came alive late. Trailing 5-1 through 7 innings, Miami scored twice in the 8th against Kenyan Middleton on a pair of solo home runs, first by Jorge Soler, then, 3 batters later, by Garrett Cooper. Even so, the White Sox took a 5-3 lead into the 9th and sent out Kendall Graveman to try to record the final 3 outs. Jean Segura led off the inning with a solo homer on a 1-2 count to make it 5-4. With 2 outs, after Jonathan Davis reached on catcher’s interference, Bryan De La Cruz delivered a go-ahead 2-run double to left. The Marlins led, 6-5, and they’d win by that score after A.J. Puk slammed the door in the Chicago 9th, inducing 3 straight ground balls to close it out.
June 22 vs. Pittsburgh (Marlins 6, Pirates 4)
Held to one run over 7 innings by Mitch Keller, the Marlins trailed 4-1 into the bottom of the 8th inning. But Dauri Moreta couldn’t record an out, giving up 2 hits and a walk before exiting with the bases loaded and nobody out. He was replaced by Carmen Mlodzinski, who was greeted by a Bryan De La Cruz 2-run single to make it 4-3. Then, after a Jesus Sanchez groundout, Garrett Cooper swung at the first pitch he saw and launched a 3-run home run. The Marlins led 6-4, and A.J. Puk pitched around an error to slam the door in the 9th.
July 5 vs. St. Louis (Marlins 10, Cardinals 9)
On a night on which Miami blew leads of 5-0 and 8-6, the Marlins trailed 9-8 going to the bottom of the 9th after a go-ahead 2-run homer by Jordan Walker in the top of the inning. But St. Louis gift-wrapped a Marlins win. Closer Jordan Hicks walked Bryan De La Cruz on 4 pitches to begin the inning. After striking out Garrett Cooper, Hicks gave up a single to Yuli Gurriel, putting runners at first and second with one out. Joey Wendle then hit a chopper in front of the mound. Hicks fielded it cleanly, double-clutched then lollipopped a throw over the head of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and down the right field line, bringing the tying and winning runs across the plate.
August 2 vs. Philadelphia (Marlins 9, Phillies 8 in 12 innings)
Down 5-0 in the bottom of the 6th, the Marlins scored twice in the 6th, twice in the 8th and tied the game on a Jorge Soler solo home run with one out in the bottom of the 9th. The Phils regained the lead on a Brandon Marsh 2-run homer off David Robertson in the top of the 10th, but Miami forced the 11th by scoring twice against Craig Kimbrel in the bottom of the inning on an Avisail Garcia RBI ground out and a Jon Berti sac fly. The teams traded runs in the 11th, Philadelphia going up 8-7 on an Alec Bohm RBI single and Miami again evening the score on a Josh Bell RBI single. In the top of the 12th, Tanner Scott hung a zero, recording a couple of strikeouts in stranding the placed runner. With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the inning, Jesus Sanchez popped a single into short left off Dylan Covey, ending the Marlins’ longest game of the season after 4 hours and 6 minutes.
August 9 at Cincinnati (Marlins 5, Reds 4)
When the Marlins arrived in Cincinnati August 7, they were 5th in the Wild Card standings but just a half-game behind both the Reds and the Cubs. Having been swept 3 straight at Texas to begin the road trip, Miami had lost 4 straight and 6 of 7. After losing the series opener to the Reds August 7, the Marlins pulled out a 3-2 win the following night, setting up the rubber game of the series with a chance to leap-frog the Reds in the Wild Card race. Graham Ashcraft dominated for 7 innings, limiting the Marlins to a run on a solo homer by Josh Bell, one of only 3 hits he allowed. But with Ashcraft out of the game, the Miami bats awoke from their slumber in the 8th. After singles by Jon Berti and Luis Arraez, Bell homered for the 2nd time in the game, a 2-out 3-run blow off Sam Moll to knot the score at 4-4. Tanner Scott kept the Reds off the board in the bottom of the 8th, and Bryan De La Cruz led off the 9th with a first pitch homer off Reds closer Alexis Diaz for a 5-4 advantage. David Robertson worked around a 2-out hit in the 9th to lock down the save and the series victory.
August 13 vs. New York (Marlins 8, Yankees 7)
The Marlins have come from behind to win 40 times this season, but no comeback victory was more dramatic than this one, a game that—in part because of the opponent—will go down as one of the most memorable regular season wins in franchise history. After the Marlins and Yankees had split the first 2 games of their 3-game weekend series, Eury Perez went up against likely AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole in one of the juiciest starting pitcher match-ups of the year. Cole was solid but not spectacular, limiting the hometown Marlins to 2 runs on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts over 6 innings. Perez’s afternoon ended early, as he was forced to throw 82 pitches over 4 tumultuous innings in which he surrendered 4 runs, including 2 on an Anthony Volpe home run in the 4th. With 3 more runs against Huascar Brazoban, the Yanks took a 7-1 lead into the bottom of the 6th, and while the Marlins would scrape across single runs in the 6th and 8th innings, they were down 7-3 headed to the 9th. Facing Yanks closer Clay Holmes in a non-save situation, the Marlins loaded the bases with one out on a Yuli Gurriel double, a Nick Fortes infield single and a walk to Jazz Chisholm. Josh Bell then hit a comebacker to Holmes that the righthander fired out of the reach of first baseman Jake Bauers and down the right field line. Gurriel and Fortes scored to make it 7-5, and the tying men were on. Luis Arraez then tripled into the right field corner scoring Chisholm and Bell and knotting the score at 7-7. At that point, Aaron Boone lifted Holmes from the game, and the 2022 All-Star returned to the dugout to a chorus of boos from the partisan Yankees crowd. After Tommy Kahnle walked Bryan De La Cruz, the first man he faced, Jake Burger delivered a walk-off single to right, capping a 5-run 9th and delivering a dramatic 8-7 Marlins victory.
Are there specific games you would add to this list? Feel free to share them in the comments below.
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Thanks for both game lists. What an improbable and counterintuitive year (according to many metrics). This is my first full year as a fan of the Marlins, watching every game, and interacting through the various media methods. Long-time fans should savor such a fun and overachieving season. To my mind, these years are sweeter for our fans than for fans whose expectations are always so high.
Glenn, what are your plans during the offseason? Will View From The Bleachers
be posted Daily?