After finishing the first two months of a season with a lousy 14-41 record, the Marlins erupted, as much as the Marlins could, in June, posting a 15-10 mark for a month which has been a pitfall for the team in recent history. Today the Fish capped off their first .500 or better month of the season with a 6-2 win over the Padres; Jeff Mathis sealed the victory with a walk-off grand slam, just his second homer of the year.
Nathan Eovaldi got the nod on the hill, and shut out San Diego through six innings, allowing just four hits. However, Miami’s offense was no-hit through three and two thirds innings.
But in the last of the fourth, the Marlins strung together three consecutive hits to break the scoreless tie. Derek Dietrich’s two-out double scored Logan Morrison and Marcell Ozuna, giving the Fish a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Padres knotted the score at two on Carlos Quentin’s home run, his ninth of the season.
Logan Morrison walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and Marcell Ozuna followed with a single. A fly ball moved Morrison to third, and the Padres elected to intentionally walk Greg Dobbs to load the bases with one out, trying to set up a force at the plate. But Jeff Mathis had other plans as he came to the plate, and promptly launched a grand slam over the left field fence, the first walk-off home run of his career, and of the Marlins’ season. Mathis’ homer was also the 3,000th in Marlins team history.
The win was Miami’s second during a four-game series with San Diego, which concludes tomorrow evening. For June, the Marlins won five series, including two sweeps and excluding the current match with the Padres, and lost three. Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison both returned to Miami’s lineup during the month after long absences due to injuries.
In July, the Fish will take on the East-leading Braves six times in two weeks, and will also face the Pirates and Cardinals, the top two teams in the National League.
The MLB All-Star Game will take place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York on July 16, and each team will be represented by at least one player. Needless to say, no Marlins player will win a spot by fan vote, but Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna have both made strong cases to be selected as reserves. In addition, Steve Cishek could win a spot in the bullpen.
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