From: South Florida Sun Sentinel
Date of Publication: July 16, 2019
MIAMI — As the Miami Marlins have trudged through another losing season this year, there have been few bright spots for the team to latch onto. But one unmistakably impressive player has been rookie pitcher Jordan Yamamoto.
Going into Tuesday’s game against the San Diego Padres, he had gone 3-0 and posted an impressive 1.24 ERA through his first five starts.
Yamamoto had one of the roughest outings of his young career on Tuesday night, at one point allowing three runs and three hits in a single inning. But it didn’t matter too much for the Marlins, as their offense exploded for a 12-7 win at Marlins Park.
“It looked like he was a little rusty, his last couple innings I thought got better,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Kind of hurt himself, didn’t back up, cost him a run … just a little bit rusty but it was good to see him kind of bounce back.”
Yamamoto finished the night having allowed four hits and three runs (two earned) in five innings.
It didn’t even take an inning for the Marlins to seize control of the game. After Yamamoto made quick work of the Padres in the top of the first, Brian Anderson blasted a 440-foot home run beyond left field with two runners on base, instantly giving Miami a 3-0 lead not even 20 minutes after the first pitch.
But in the very next inning, the Marlins failed to maintain their lead. Yamamoto allowed the first three batters he faced to get on base, and a single from Ian Kinsler drove in Hunter Renfroe to give the Padres their first run.
Anderson then committed an error on a routine throw back to home plate, giving Josh Naylor an opportunity to score and cut the lead to, 3-2. Francisco Mejia tied the game up moments later off a groundout by Manuel Margot.
“First inning went well, I thought things were gonna be rolling. But second inning really hit me hard,” Yamamoto said. “First batter, second batter, walked a guy. It definitely was a little, I guess eye-opening that I had to really get back into it, kick myself in the butt and just say let’s go.”
The Marlins managed to keep the scoring going in the next inning, when Harold Ramirez fired the ball deep into right field. The Padres’ Naylor made a jump to try to save the play but the ball was just beyond the reach of his glove, earning a single for Ramirez and driving in Cesar Puello and Yadiel Rivera.
Garrett Cooper drove in two more runs off a single to right field of his own a couple minutes later, and the Marlins were suddenly back in control with a 7-3 lead.[Popular in Sports] Switching it up: Jae Crowder sharpens Heat defense as Swiss Army knife »
“Our guys did a great job of getting good pitches to hit today,” Anderson said. “We’re not a team that has really hit a bunch of home runs, I think especially with this park and the guys that we have, but our guys did a really good job of getting good pitches out over the plate.”
Anderson finished the night with three RBI, tied for the team lead with Cooper and Starlin Castro.
After that, the teams stalemated for much of the game. But Miami finally broke free in the bottom of the sixth, when Miguel Rojas singled to center field, driving in Rivera to put the Marlins up by five. After that, Castro turned his team’s big lead into a blowout.
With the bases loaded, he hammered the ball deep into right field, driving in all three runners and making it to third base. With just three innings to go, Miami held a nine-run lead.
Despite a strong ninth inning from the Padres, the Marlins went on to get the win.
Miami and San Diego will face off again Wednesday night at 7:10 p.m.
