BALTIMORE _ In the span of 26 hours, the Miami Marlins went from wondering exactly how they would perform after being stuck in a hotel for a week and losing more than two-thirds of their bullpen to stringing together some of the best pitching performances.
Three games against the Baltimore Orioles. Three wins. Three shutouts. Nothing short of impressive, given the circumstances.
After winning the series opener 4-0 on Tuesday, the Marlins swept a Wednesday doubleheader 1-0 and 2-1. They can sweep the three-day, four-game series in Baltimore with a win Thursday.
Somehow, someway, the Marlins keep finding ways to win in this shortened, weird, abnormal season even after getting a reality check from the coronavirus pandemic.
They're 5-1 on the season, putting them in first place in the National League East when going off winning percentage (which MLB will do if some teams don't play all 60 games).
Even more impressive: They're 3-0 since their impromptu eight-day layoff, an effect of 18 players and two coaches testing positive for COVID-19.
And to make that even more impressive: The Marlins shut out the Orioles for the first 21 2/3 innings of the three games. The Orioles first run came with two outs in the sixth inning of Wednesday's second game when an Austin Hays liner bounced past Eddy Alvarez and Jonathan Villar on the left side of the infield to score Anthony Santander.
They did it in the second game of the doubleheader Wednesday despite no pitcher throwing more than two innings.
Three of their five pitchers to throw in the game _ Josh A. Smith, Brian Moran, Justin Shafer _ weren't even on the Marlins' roster before Tuesday, all picked up on waiver claims or called up from their alternate training site in Jupiter. A fourth, Sterling Sharp, threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his MLB debut. Stephen Tarpley was the fifth pitcher to take the mound in Wednesday's nightcap and earned the save.
Combined, the group held the Orioles to four hits, the one run and recorded seven strikeouts.
They got all the offense they needed in the first inning, when Jesus Aguilar's sacrifice fly scored Jonathan Villar and Brian Anderson's RBI single one at-bat later plated Jon Berti.
Anderson, who played first base for the first time in his professional career in the second game, also scored the only run in the first game of the doubleheader, belting a solo home run to right field.
