MIAMI — The series started with a pair of close losses — a one-run defeat and a game that was within reach until the final innings.
It ended with a pair of wins — one where a lucky inning and an overturned call on replay sealed a come-from-behind victory, the other a blowout on a bullpen day.
Given the state of their roster and the state of their season, the Miami Marlins will take the series split with the San Diego Padres at loanDepot park.
And Miami’s 9-3 win on Sunday to close the series gave a reminder of this Marlins team’s potential the rare times when everything clicks.
They battled early, with a pair of home runs from Deven Marrero and Brian Anderson keeping the game tied after four innings before taking the lead with a two-run fifth inning and pulling the game out of reach by scoring five runs in the sixth.
Marrero, a Miami native and Plantation American Heritage alumnus, tied a career-high with three hits while also scoring three runs and stealing a base. Magneuris Sierra, on his 141st plate appearance of the season, drove in Marrero for the go-ahead run with an RBI double in the fifth. It was Sierra’s first RBI of the season.
Lewis Brinson hit a three-run home run in the sixth, and Starling Marte had three hits.
It’s the 11th time this season the Marlins have scored at least nine runs in a game.
On the mound, the Marlins went with a bullpen game for the finale with Trevor Rogers on the injured list with a lower back muscle spasm. Seven Marlins pitchers held the Padres to two runs on four hits with 11 strikeouts.
Anthony Bender and David Hess were the only pitchers to throw multiple innings. Bender gave up a home run to Manny Machado in the fourth and working a scoreless fifth. Hess threw a scoreless eighth and gave up a two-out solo home run to Brian O’Grady in the ninth before sealing the win. The rest of the group — John Curtiss (first), Zach Pop (second), Steven Okert (third), Anthony Bass (sixth) and Richard Bleier (seventh) — threw one inning apiece.
The Padres opened scoring in the single with an Eric Hosmer RBI single that scored Tommy Pham from third. Pham reached on a Jesus Aguilar missed catch error.
