TAMPA -- Thrills. Frights. Twists and turns. This isn’t about the next summer blockbuster coming to a theater near you.
Those words properly describe the wild game between the Marlins and Rays on Saturday in which Miami prevailed, 11-10, in 10 innings at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
“I think that was probably one of the more entertaining games of the year,” second baseman Xavier Edwards said. “Had a bit of everything.”
The Marlins’ offense looked like it would earn top billing on this day. The 11 runs matched a season high, and they were a welcome sight for a club that had scored only 14 in its previous seven games.
But Edwards’ defense became the star of the show in the final inning. About one week after he was shifted over from shortstop, Edwards made two spectacular plays at the keystone position to help Miami take down its in-state rival and snap a five-game losing streak.
“I think X's athleticism and playmaking ability really showed on those two plays,” manager Clayton McCullough said.
The first play saw Edwards range to his left to smother a sharply hit grounder by Jake Mangum. Edwards was able to dive, turn over and throw Mangum out at first to record the first out of the bottom of 10th, and more importantly keep the automatic runner, Kameron Misner, at third base.
That play made for quite a highlight. But Edwards had something more special lined up for the next batter, José Caballero.
Caballero smacked a hard-hit ball up the middle – and off the pitcher’s mound. However, Edwards – who was playing in on the front edge of the infield dirt – was able to handle the high hop and throw a perfect strike from in front of second base, with his momentum carrying him into left field, directly to catcher Nick Fortes, who put the tag down on Misner and essentially ended the Rays’ final threat.
“Pretty difficult,” Edwards said of his second defensive gem of the 10th. “I was expecting the ball to be lower, obviously. That bounce off the mound, maybe in hindsight, it made it a little bit easier for me to throw it just because it was a bounce up toward my head. But, yeah, it was a pretty good play.”
“Those are two elite, high-caliber plays that he executed really well,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Edwards.
That sparkling defense put the finishing touches on what was one of the Marlins’ best offensive outputs. After a stretch in which scoring runs must have felt like getting water out of a faucet one drop at a time, the floodgates finally opened for Miami.
Saturday’s outburst featured a six-run fifth inning that included an RBI single from Edwards, a two-run double from Jesús Sánchez and run-scoring doubles by Liam Hicks and Dane Myers.
The Marlins’ six runs and six hits in the fifth tied their single-inning season highs. Sánchez, who blasted a three-run homer to cap a seven-pitch at-bat in the third inning, drove in a season-high five runs.
“There were some really good at-bats,” McCullough said. “Sánchez hit the homer, but it was a great at-bat. How it finished was awesome, but he saw a ton of pitches in that at-bat and fouled off a lot.”
That dinger erased a 4-0 deficit before the Rays mounted their own comeback to tie the game at 10-10 in the seventh. The winning RBI was provided by pinch-hitter Heriberto Hernandez, who picked up a 10th-inning RBI single in just his 13th at-bat since making his MLB debut on May 30.
“If that doesn't show you how our team's willing to fight, then I don't know what will,” starting pitcher Ryan Weathers said of the win. “I know the box scores don't look like it, but every guy in there is playing their tail off every single day.”
Miami’s bullpen had to work overtime as Weathers exited the game after three innings and 57 pitches due to what the club announced as precautionary reasons.
Weathers’ day got off to a scary start when he was hit in the head by a throw from Fortes after the left-hander threw his final warmup pitch before the bottom of the first inning. Weathers stayed on the ground momentarily and was attended to by trainers before throwing a few more warmup pitches. He stayed in the game and tossed a clean first inning on eight pitches.
But then Weathers’ velocity took a significant drop in the third inning; some of his four-seam fastballs, which average 97.5 mph, were coming in at 91-92 mph. But after the left-hander was evaluated, both he and McCullough downplayed any injury concerns.
“Right now, we think everything is OK with Ryan,” McCullough said.