It was never exactly a secret how anxious Miguel Rojas was to get back on the field for the Miami Marlins. He waited for nearly a month _ quarantined in a Philadelphia hotel room, at his South Florida home as he recovered from COVID-19 and, finally, at the Marlins' alternate training site in Jupiter _ as his teammates first became the most surprising story in MLB and eventually crashed back to earth with a five-game losing streak. All the while, he live tweeted games and even once popped in for a remote video interview on the Fox Sports Florida broadcast.
After 26 days away, he finally stepped to the plate in the second inning of Miami's series-opener against the Washington Nationals on Friday. With two outs and two runners on base, Rojas took two pitches and waited until Patrick Corbin missed a spot, and then he pounced. Corbin left a 90-mph fastball over the middle of the plate and the shortstop pounced, launching a three-run home run 381 feet over the left-field fence at Nationals Park to and carrying the Marlins to a 3-2 win in Washington.
It was the only thing Miami's offense could manage Friday in and it was the only thing the Marlins (10-9) needed. Elieser Hernandez, thrust into the role of a de facto No. 2 starter because of Miami's COVID outbreak, fired five innings of two-run ball to continue his breakthrough 2020 and help the Marlins climb back above .500 by ending a five-game losing streak.
Hernandez has now pitched 19 2/3 innings this season, allowed just 12 hits and three walks, and struck out 25. His ERA is 2.29 with the season nearly a third over.
The pitcher handed his bullpen a one-run lead and it hung on against the Nationals (9-13) for the final four innings, with relief pitcher Brandon Kintzler notching his fourth save. Miami remains in second place, one game behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.
Rojas' return even had to wait an extra day. Miami activated its captain from the injured list Thursday and slotted him into the lineup against the New York Mets at Marlins Park, but one Mets player and one staff member both tested positive for the coronavirus and MLB postponed the game and Miami headed off on another road trip.
On Friday, Rojas finally played for the first time since July and catcher Jorge Alfaro, who was the first of 18 Marlins to test positive for the virus in July, suited up for the first time all season. In the coming days and weeks, each of those 18 players could come off the IL.
Rojas' absence was most felt. In each of the three games he played last month against the Philadelphia Phillies, Rojas collected multiple hits. He was easily the most passionate and vocal player throughout a disastrous 2019 season and then he had to watch from afar while his teammates finally started to win.
He also had to watch helplessly when they started to lose earlier this week, dropping five in a row heading into Friday. The infielder didn't have to wait long to finally feel useful.
After rookie outfielder Jesus Sanchez struck out with a runner in scoring position in his first MLB at-bat, Rojas stood in to face Corbin and promptly put Miami ahead 3-0 three pitches into his return. Corbin stumped the rest of the Marlins lineup, but Rojas delivered another multi-hit game against the starting pitcher, and Hernandez (1-0) surrendered just a pair of solo homers to star shortstop Trea Turner and catcher Yan Gomes.
Rojas connected for his second hit of the game in the seventh inning and middle infielder Jonathan Villar followed with a double to chase Corbin (2-2) from the game after allowing eight hits and striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings.
Corbin gave up eight hits in 6 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts. One he departed, first baseman Jesus Aguilar drew a walk to load the bases with one out before Miami stranded all three runners and forced its relievers, with the 10th worst bullpen ERA in the Majors, to cling to a one-run lead for the final three innings.
