Marlins Drop a Dime on D'Backs
Marlins overcome seven-run deficit in Phoenix
Updated 1:13 PM EST, Fri, Jul 10, 2009
PHOENIX — Down by seven runs in the fifth inning, the Marlins kept on hacking.
They didn’t stop until they had scored a franchise-record 10 runs in the eighth inning and stormed back for a 14-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night.
Pinch-hitter Brett Carroll’s three-run homer was the biggest hit in the biggest inning in team history.
Florida matched the team record for the biggest comeback victory and Arizona set a club record for the largest blown lead.
“I didn’t sense any panic,” Carroll said. “I think guys were staying ready, and we started to get a couple knocks.
“We were down and fought back, and that’s a good sign,” Carroll said. “Great win for us.”
And it was a stinging defeat for Arizona, which snapped a five-game winning streak. When Florida’s eighth inning finally ended, the remnants of a Chase Field crowd of 21,558 stood and applauded derisively.
“It’s a bad loss, no doubt,” Arizona center fielder Chris Young said. “It was a weird game.”
Florida trailed 7-0 after five innings but rallied with three runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. Then the Marlins hit Arizona with the 10-spot in the eighth to make a winner of Kiko Calero (2-0).
“I can’t really pinpoint exactly at what point I had the ‘uh-oh’ moment, that feeling, but it certainly is disappointing,” Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said.
The Marlins sent 14 batters to the plate in the eighth against three relievers—Juan Gutierrez, Scott Schoeneweis (1-1) and Blaine Boyer.
After pinch-hitter Ross Gload drove in the first run with a fielder’s choice grounder, Carroll hit a fastball from Schoeneweis for a three-run homer, giving Florida an 8-7 lead. It was Carroll’s first career pinch-hit homer and the first by a Marlin this season.
“The ball just kind of got in on me a little bit and I was able to kind of muscle it out there,” said Carroll, who has three homers.
Dan Uggla, Cody Ross and Jeremy Hermida followed with RBI singles, and John Baker drove in a run with a double.
Another run scored on a passed ball charged to Luke Carlin, and the final run came in on Gload’s second RBI fielder’s choice grounder of the inning.
The Diamondbacks helped out with two errors—one by Boyer and another by Mark Reynolds—as their frustrated fans unleashed a torrent of boos.
“Guys didn’t give at-bats away, and we were able to capitalize on some of their mistakes and get some big hits and score a big number there in the eighth inning,” Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Three pinch-hitters—Gload, Carroll and Hanley Ramirez—each batted twice in the inning.
“I don’t know if I was prepared for the second one,” said Carroll, who grounded to third base to end the inning. “I started to realize I was going to get another at-bat. I was kind of excited.”
Arizona began building its lead in the first inning. Justin Upton broke out of a 1-for-12 slump with a two-run homer just inside the left field foul pole off Andrew Miller, who lasted only 2 2-3 innings, his shortest outing.
Arizona’s lead grew to 7-0 through five innings. But the Marlins closed to 7-3 in the sixth on a two-run shot by Jorge Cantu to the left field seats and a solo homer by Hermida to the pool area in right-center field, both off Arizona starter Yusmeiro Petit.
The Marlins made it 7-4 in the seventh on Chris Coghlan’s RBI double.
“We could kind of sense that, hey, we’ve got to stay ready,” Carroll said. “This game is not over.”
Copyright Associated Press
First Published: Jul 10, 2009 5:24 AM EST
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