Field Level Media
Sep 7, 2020
Miami shortstop Miguel Rojas did damage with both his bat and glove to lead the visiting Marlins to a 5-4, 10-inning win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday in the first game of a three-game series.
Rojas went 4 for 5 at the plate, including a double that drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th. Rojas doubled twice, scored a run and drove in two.
He also made a sensational defensive play in the seventh to save a run. With a runner at third, he speared the sharp grounder hit by Ronald Acuna Jr. and threw a strike to the plate to retire Adeiny Hechavarria.
Atlanta's Adam Duvall tied the game with a pinch-hit homer to lead off the ninth off Brandon Kintzler. Duvall worked his way back from an 0-2 count to deliver his 10th homer. The Braves loaded the bases following a double, passed ball and two intentional walks, but Travis d'Arnaud grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The winning pitcher was Kintzler (2-3), with Nick Vincent earning his third save. The losing pitcher was A.J. Minter (1-1)
Jose Urena, whose season was delayed by COVID-19, made his first start and worked five innings. He allowed three runs on four hits, three walks and two strikeouts.
The 83-pitch outing wasn't without drama. Urena hit Acuna with a pitch and, although obviously not happy, Acuna took his base without incident. The umpires issued warnings to both teams in an effort to avoid a repeat of the bench-clearing incident of 2018 when Acuna was plunked by Urena during his rookie season.
Atlanta rookie starter Ian Anderson got through only three innings because of a high pitch count (83). Anderson allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits, four walks and four strikeouts.
The Braves scored two in the first inning on Freddie Freeman's double.
Rojas doubled in a run in the second inning, but the Braves answered on Ender Inciarte's run-scoring triple in the bottom half of the inning.
The Marlins got a run in the third on an RBI single by Jon Berti and took a 4-3 lead in the fourth on a double by Starling Marte and single by Jesus Aguilar.
Miami (18-18) evened the season series with Atlanta (24-17) at 2-2.
--Field Level Media