DETROIT _ To extend their season-best winning streak to four games, the Miami Marlins needed to both suffer through one of their worst meltdowns of the season and celebrate some of their most unlikely runs of their season.
After the Detroit Tigers rallied from a two-run deficit in the ninth inning Tuesday with the help of errors, infield singles and replay reviews, Chad Wallach rescued the Marlins. The backup catcher, starting behind home plate with Jorge Alfaro relegated to designated hitter by a left calf strain, ripped an RBI double to center field in the top of the 11th, finally putting Miami ahead for good to beat the Tigers, 5-4, in Detroit.
The RBI double, which came after an infield single by infielder Miguel Rojas with two outs, was Wallach's second of the game as the Marlins (14-31) salvaged one of their more complete offensive efforts of the season.
Miami clawed out five extra-base hits for only the fifth time this season, took a lead only three batters in and padded its lead with solo home runs by both the established _ Brian Anderson _ and the unproven _ Harold Ramirez _ at Comerica Park.
The Marlins committed an error, the Tigers (18-27) notched a pair of singles which at least hit off the glove of infielders and replay review swung a questionable call in Detroit's favor to complete Miami's ninth-inning meltdown, and force extra innings at Comerica Park.
Those first four runs and eight hits all melted away in eight batters in the ninth. The inning began in controversial fashion and only got uglier for the Marlins. Super utility man Niko Goodrum began the frame by bouncing a grounder to first base. Neil Walker flipped the ball to Sergio Romo, who appeared to step on the edge of first and beat Goodrum. Detroit challenged and the call was reversed to give the Tigers a leadoff runner. Romo responded with a strikeout, then chaos.
Outfielder Nicholas Castellanos hit a fielder's choice to third, but second baseman Starlin Castro dropped Anderson's throw. Miguel Cabrera hit a hard grounder to third, but the ball bounced off Anderson's glove and bounced into the outfield to send Goodrum home, and Castellanos to third. Infielder Ronny Rodriguez hit a game-tying sacrifice fly to left, but even that wasn't simple _ Ramirez dropped the ball on the transfer and Rodriguez was initially ruled safe at first before replay overturned the call, leading to Detroit manager Rod Gardenhire being ejected.
The Marlins went down in order in the 10th and so did the Tigers against Nick Anderson. The Marlins then pounced on relief pitcher Joe Jimenez, the Tigers' lone All-Star in 2018, while Anderson (1-1) closed out the win with six strikeouts in seven batters. Jimenez (1-1) got two quick outs and nearly a third until Rojas legged out an infield single. With the go-ahead run on base, Wallach nearly pulled a double to right field only for it to squirt foul. A few pitches later, he straightened his rocket out to center to win the game for Miami.
The sloppy inning wasted what would have been a rare complete effort from the last-place Marlins. Starting pitcher Caleb Smith struck out seven, and allowed two runs on three hits in five innings, although that wasn't unexpected. The all-around success was due to the offense, which smacked four extra-base hits for only the sixth time all year to give Miami its near wire-to-wire win. The Marlins scored just three batters in when Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to bring home outfielder Curtis Granderson, then built their lead on solo home runs by Anderson and Ramirez, and an RBI double by Wallach.
Still, Miami regrouped to win. Now the Marlins' best winning streak of the season is up to four games and they managed to build on the weekend sweep despite a below-average start from their ace in the opener of a three-game series
Since a pair of shutout losses to the Tampa Bay Rays last Tuesday and Wednesday, Miami has put up 18 total runs and gone undefeated.
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