López escapes jam to help Marlins beat Arizona 3-1 for sweep

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/05/2021 (1947 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MIAMI – Pablo López came through with a strikeout when he needed it most, and the Miami Marlins won a close game for a change to complete their first sweep of the season.

López fanned Carson Kelly with two on to end the fifth inning, and four relievers completed a five-hitter to help beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 on Thursday night.

The score was 1-all when a double and an error brought Kelly to the plate.

“The biggest at-bat of the night,” López said. “My pitch count was high. You just want to go at the guy with everything you’ve got and empty the tank there.”

Adam Duvall hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh, and the Marlins (14-16) improved to 4-11 in games decided by less than three runs.

“If we continue doing things the right way, the results are going to show,” López said. “We’re in these games, and we have a team full of guys who can make something happen really quick. Things are going to start snowballing.”

The Diamondbacks came into the series second in the majors in runs but were outscored 20-4 in the three games.

“We were playing very good baseball, and we got beat,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “The pitching shut us down. For three days we didn’t play our brand of baseball. We know that, and it’s up to us to get the worm turned.”

Miguel Rojas led off the first inning with his first home run for the Marlins, but Madison Bumgarner retired the next 17 batters.

Bumgarner was hit on the right wrist by a 92 mph pitch in the second inning but was unfazed. Instead, the left-hander struck out the next five batters he faced.

X-rays after the game were negative.

“It’s a little swollen,” Bumgarner said. “There’s no great amount of pain.”

“There was a little bit of a scare there,” Lovullo said.

Duvall greeted J.B. Bukauskas (1-1) with his sixth homer for a 2-1 lead, raising his batting average to .200. Miami added another run on two singles and Chad Wallach’s sacrifice fly.

“J.B. made some mistakes over the plate, and that was the difference in the game,” Lovullo said.

The Marlins won with five hits.

López allowed only an unearned run in five innings. He remained winless this season despite an ERA of 2.04 in seven starts.

Dylan Floro (2-1) pitched a perfect seventh, and Yimi García worked around a two-out single in the ninth for his fifth save in six chances.

Miami came into the game fifth in the majors in ERA.

“Our pitching has been really good all year long,” manager Don Mattingly said. “And the bullpen in the last 10 days has come together where everybody is throwing good.”

Bumgarner allowed one run in six innings. He has an ERA of 1.17 in his past four starts, including a seven-inning complete game when he held the Atlanta Braves hitless, and his season ERA is now 4.91.

Rojas’ error at shortstop in the second led to an unearned run, which scored on Pavin Smith’s two-out double.

WEB GEM

Magneuris Sierra came off the Miami bench and made a leaping catch at the 387-foot sign in centre field to rob Asdrúbal Cabrera of extra bases in the seventh.

“I thought the ball was out of the ballpark when it was hit,” Mattingly said.

UP NEXT

Diamondbacks: RHP Zac Gallen (1-1, 3.48 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday to begin a three-game series at the New York Mets.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

Marlins: LHP Trevor Rogers (3-2, 1.91), the NL rookie of the month for April, pitches Friday to begin a three-game series against Milwaukee.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

___

Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Steve_Wine