MIAMI _ A day after Edinson Volquez pitched the Miami Marlins' sixth no-hitter, the hits came early and often Sunday at Marlins Park.
With the Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks both sending spot-starters to the mound, no one was expecting a pitching masterpiece. It quickly became evident that the series finale would be a hitting contest, at least early.
Ultimately, it came down to a battle of bullpens over the four innings.
Battle was the way to describe the decisive hit by A.J. Ellis that proved a 6-5 victory and conclude an 8-2 homestand with the Marlins taking three of four from the Diamondbacks.
Ellis, the Marlins' back-up catcher, Ellis engaged fire-baller Archie Bradley through 14 pitches before lining a single to left to drive in Derek Dietrich with the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh.
Ellis fouled off 10 pitches before getting the barrel of the bat on a 99.8-mph fastball, one pitch after taking a 99-mph heater for ball three. He had fouled off the previous six pitches, all but one a fastball in the upper 90s.
When Ellis got to first, third-base coach Fredi Gonzalez tipped his cap from across the diamond.
It was a day for Marlins back-ups, as Tyler Moore contributed a three-run home run in a rare start at first.
Six Marlins relievers held the Diamondbacks over the last 5 1/3 innings after starter Vance Worley gave up five runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings. A.J. Ramos recorded his second save of the series with a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the Diamondbacks' two best hitters to end it.
The teams combined for nine doubles, six by Arizona.
The Diamondbacks wasted no time in getting back into the hits column as Daniel Descalso led off the game with a double to left-center off Worley. Descalso made the second out the ninth in the no-hitter, striking out as a pinch-hitter as Volquez put the finishing touch on his gem by striking out the side.
Sunday solid connections were the norm for the day. The Diamondbacks smacked six doubles in the first four innings, five of them off starter Worley.
Descalso's second double drove in two runs and tied it at 4 with one out in the fourth. Dustin McGowan came on and served the third double of the inning, to Paul Goldschmidt who just missed a home run but put Arizona ahead 5-4.
Earlier, Moore, getting only his fourth start of the season as slugger Justin Bour got a rest, went full Bour with a three-run blast off Branden Shipley in the second inning. Moore's second homer of the season, on a 404-foot drive to left off a belt-high fastball, wiped out an early Arizona lead.
Shipley was called up from Triple-A Reno to make the start for Arizona. The right-hander began the day with a career ERA of 5.35 in 14 games (12 starts). It climbed higher after he gave up five runs (four earned) in five innings in his second start for the D-backs this season.
Dietrich drove in a pair of runs with sacrifice flies, set up by doubles from Marcell Ozuna in the third and Giancarlo Stanton in the fifth, the latter tying the score at 5. Stanton's hit was a scorcher to right-center at 114 mph (per Statcast).
Shipley avoided further damage in the fifth, leaving the bases loaded with the aid of a favorable call on a high fastball to J.T. Riddle. The Marlins benefited on a similarly generous strike call by Kerwin Danley in the sixth.
Dietrich helped prevent the Diamondbacks from adding to their lead with a couple of sparkling plays at third base in the second when they put runners on second and third with one out.
Dietrich speared Nick Ahmed's sizzling liner. Then with runners on second and third with one out, Dietrich knocked down Shipley's smash near third and made a strong throw for the second out. Worley stranded the runners by striking out Descalso.
Dietrich made another slick stop to his left on Shipley in the fourth with runners again on second and third, this time with no outs. But Worley wasn't able to withstand the onslaught and made an early exit.
