Red-hot Lopez, Marlins trying to complicate Deadline decisions

MILWAUKEE -- The Marlins have been trying to claw their way back up the National League Wild Card standings over the past month-plus. They’ve needed different players to step up to keep their run going.

To kick off the series against the Brewers on Friday, it was Otto Lopez’s turn to play hero.

With one out, the bases loaded and the score tied in the top of the seventh, Lopez dropped Milwaukee reliever Nick Mears’ 3-1 four-seamer into the right-center-field gap. That brought in a pair of runs before an error by center fielder Blake Perkins allowed Kyle Stowers to score and Lopez to move to third.

Lopez then came home on Liam Hicks’ sacrifice fly, and that cushion allowed Miami to cruise to a 5-1 victory at American Family Field.

“Otto is a really good player,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “His at-bat quality, I think [going] back to our series in Tampa [in early June], it felt like that was a bit of a turning point for Otto, where his plate discipline really has improved. He's staying in the strike zone with much more regularity, and he’s a high-contact hitter to begin with, with enough ability and strength to drive the ball.

“In those moments, I think what's allowed him to have success is that he just hasn't tried to do too much. He's stuck to what he's looking to go hit and staying through the middle of the field.”

The go-ahead two-bagger was one of three doubles on the day for Lopez, who recorded his first game with three extra-base hits. He entered the day tied with Stowers atop the Major League leaderboard in RBIs since June 22 (27) and pulled ahead of Stowers following Friday’s victory.

“Thanks to my teammates, the whole lineup,” Lopez said. “They've been doing a pretty good job to get on base, and I just try to do my job. We work as a team, and if I see [my teammates] on base, I just try to do my job.”

It really was a full lineup effort against Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, who entered the day 12-4 with a 2.85 ERA.

The Marlins scored against Peralta only on Stowers’ third-inning home run, his 23rd of the season and seventh in his past eight games. However, they put pressure on him all game.

They had a runner in scoring position in each of the first three innings, also recording -- on top of Stowers’ homer -- two doubles, one single, two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Even more important was Miami running up Peralta’s pitch count: He had thrown 98 pitches (64 strikes) by the end of the fifth, and he didn’t come back out for another frame.

“We didn't scratch much across other than the Stowers homer, but I thought our at-bats against Freddy were terrific,” McCullough said. “I thought we stressed him early, built up the pitch count. … I think our at-bats today were outstanding, and they have been.”

Getting Peralta out after five likely played a part in the Marlins’ rally in the seventh, highlighted by Lopez’s bases-clearing double. That sealed Miami’s win and gave him 29 RBIs in his past 26 games.

Lopez hasn’t been one of the premier RBI guys all season -- his 54 on the year is barely in the top 50 -- but that recent uptick in run production has coincided with a hot stretch for the Marlins. They’ve gone 19-8 since June 22, posting one of the best records in baseball over that time as they’ve climbed from 15 games below .500 to a current record of 49-53.

It might be too late for Miami’s run to stop some pieces from being traded before the Deadline. But the players seem intent on trying to make that decision harder over the next few days.

“It shows a lot about us,” said Lopez about beating the team with the best record in the NL. “All the work that we put in, it's amazing seeing it there on the field. We don't think about [the opponent being] a good or better team. We're just trying to face ourselves, kind of. We just go out there and just have fun.”

“I think they come here every day expecting to win, and when we don't win, it doesn't feel good,” McCullough said. “... I think there's very much a confidence and a belief in there, as there should be, but I think we've had that confidence all along that this is what we were capable of doing.”