MIAMI _ Don Mattingly, with the Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants locked in a tie game in the bottom of the seventh on Wednesday, turned to a pair of veterans with the hope to spark the offense late and extend their hot streak.
The plan worked.
After Jorge Alfaro's leadoff single knocked starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner out of the game, Curtis Granderson roped a pinch-hit single to right field and Neil Walker followed with a pinch-hit double down the right-field line off reliever Mark Melancon to bring Alfaro home and give the Marlins a lead they would not relinquish in a 4-2 series-clinching win at Marlins Park. The Marlins (19-34) have now won nine of their last 12 games, while the Giants (21-33) have dropped eight of their last nine.
Garrett Cooper hit a sacrifice fly to score Granderson for the insurance run in the seventh. A Harold Ramirez RBI single in the eighth scored Starlin Castro, who led off the inning with the Marlins' first triple of the 2019 season.
The late offense salvaged yet another quality home start by pitcher Pablo Lopez, who gave up just one run _ a solo home run by Brandon Belt in the fourth _ over 6 innings of work. Lopez, who earned a no-decision, scattered four hits and a walk while striking out five. He retired final nine batters after giving up the game-tying home run to lead off the fourth.
Through five home starts this year, Lopez has a 1.84 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 29 1/3 innings. However, he has struggled in six road starts, posting an 8.26 ERA over 28 1/3 innings. He only has one start away from Marlins Park in which he threw at least five innings and gave up fewer than four runs.
Nick Anderson, Tayron Guerrero and Sergio Romo threw an inning each out of the bullpen to seal the win. Romo earned his 11th save of the year after holding the Giants _ the team that drafted him back in 2005 and with whom he spent the first nine years of his MLB career and won three World Series _ to one run.
The Marlins opened scoring in third when Castro hit a sacrifice fly to score Austin Dean, who led off with a single and advanced to third two at-bats later on a Brian Anderson single. The Marlins finished with 11 hits, their seventh time with double-digit hits over the last 12 games.
Miami can earn its third sweep over the past four series with a win on Thursday. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m.
