Norby breathes again, swinging free after return from injury 

ARLINGTON -- When the Marlins reinstated Connor Norby from his third stint on the injured list earlier this week, it would’ve been easy to try to make up for lost time.

With the season winding down and the Marlins playing some of their best baseball, Norby, along with Graham Pauley and Dane Myers, were itching to rejoin the club. Rather than feel added pressure, Norby received a vote of confidence during a trying season.

“They just said they believe in me, they know how frustrating it's been for me, but they just wanted me to know that they do believe in me, and to hang my hat on that,” Norby said. “It was a good conversation. … Coming from them, saying those words, [I could] kind of breathe a little bit, just because it felt like a lot of the year, I've been feeling like I'm playing catch-up, and I feel like I have to do extra, and that's probably why I've been doing not what I want to do: Be me, play my game, because it's pretty good. It's pretty good the way I play. So just trust in that and keep trying to raise the bar. But believe in that.”

Norby played a pivotal role in the Marlins’ 4-3 victory over the Rangers on Saturday night at Globe Life Field, going back-to-back with Troy Johnston in the decisive sixth inning.

Johnston, who collected an RBI single in the second, was out in front of a first-pitch curveball but just managed to sneak it over the right-field wall for the then-go-ahead shot with two outs in the frame. Norby then crushed a middle-middle slider to left to chase righty Jack Leiter.

• Playoff picture: Bracket, pennant races, tiebreakers and more

It marked Miami's sixth pair of back-to-back homers this season, and second in the last three games.

“It's great, especially anytime you can have a back-to-back home run, especially to put us ahead,” Johnston said. “It's awesome for the team. It gave our bullpen and our pitchers a little wiggle room to really do what they do best and shut [them] down.”

The sequence also came as a relief to Norby, whose most recent IL stint was for a left quad strain. After a promising club debut following the Trevor Rogers trade last summer, he is batting .255/.303/.390 with 16 doubles, one triple, seven homers and 32 RBIs in just 81 games this season.

Since returning from the injured list on Tuesday, however, Norby has collected at least one hit in each of his four games, including three consecutive multi-hit performances.

“[He] felt much better prior to this recent IL stint, when he had come back,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “He really looked good. It was unfortunate that he had to go down and miss a little bit more time, but he's come back and looks confident in the box. He's taking aggressive swings, and we needed it.”

Added Norby: “It's been a frustrating year for sure, and I've made a lot of changes. So it's like, ‘Let's kind of stick with this one.’ I feel like I am who I am right now. I'm being that, and I'm not trying to chase something I'm not, which is what I felt like I was doing for a lot of the year. I feel like me, and that's the most important thing.”

Norby and the Marlins’ play the rest of the way can also factor into the postseason races.

Last weekend against the Tigers, they took two of three at loanDepot park. A week later, Detroit finds its American League Central lead down to one game against surging Cleveland. With a lineup featuring six rookies and another two on the mound, Miami metaphorically ended Texas’ dimming postseason dreams by capturing its ninth win in its past 10 games, including the first five contests of its three-city trip.

Next on the docket are the Phillies, vying for home-field advantage in the postseason, and the Mets, who are trying to hold off the Reds for the final National League Wild Card spot. Miami is still mathematically alive, five games back with seven games remaining.

“It's great,” McCullough said. “This is where we want to be year after year. We're getting into the latter part of September with everything on the line, and the odds are not in our favor right now, but we have a pulse tomorrow. Again, to come on the road against a team in a similar situation that has their back against the wall, and you have to go win every single game, we believe will bode very well for us moving forward with those types of experiences.”