The Miami Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 in walk-off fashion on Sunday to win the series and move them back over .500 on the season.
Adeiny Hechavarria started off the bottom of the ninth with a single to right-field to get the game winning rally started. Donovan Solano followed with a perfect sacrifice bunt to get Hechavarria into scoring position. Christian Yelich came to the plate next and grounded out to move the shortstop to third base with two outs. Jeff Baker who entered the game in the eighth inning then hit the game winning hit off the right-field fence.
With closer Steve Cishek unavailable due to a heavy workload recently, A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth. Ramos blew the save before retiring a single batter. The Dodgers would go on to get more runners on base in the inning and seemingly had the bases loaded with one out for Adrian Gonzalez. However, manager Mike Redmond challenged a safe call at second base and won on review to turn the situation into first and third with two outs. Ramos retired Gonzalez next to end the threat.
Giancarlo Stanton hit two home runs to give him ten on the year. The first blast which was a two-run long ball came in the first inning with the other being added in the sixth frame. Both blasts came off of Dodgers' starter Stephen Fife. With three more runs batted in, Stanton now has 36 on the year. Yelich also homered in this one, it was his second of the year and it came in the fifth inning. Garrett Jones also picked up his sixth double of the season to continue his recent hot streak.
Jose Fernandez wasn't as dominant as he has been in other starts but he was still better than most in the game. The right-hander struck out ten across seven innings of work and threw a season high 114 pitches in the effort to help a tired bullpen. Fernandez walked four which showed an unusual and rare lack of control for the ace but he worked around those walks and five hits. The Dodgers managed to plate three runs against Fernandez and only two were earned. Mike Dunn pitched a scoreless eighth inning to hold the lead.
The Marlins will open a series against the New York Mets on Monday with Nathan Eovaldi scheduled to make the start.
