Miami Marlins serve NY Yankees a walk off Burger

Miami, Florida –It’s not over until it’s over, the Miami Marlins completed a stunning ninth-inning rally edging the Yankees 8-7 thanks to Jake Burger. The fighting fish put up five runs against Clay Holmes culminating in the team’s biggest comeback victory of the season in front of a sellout crowd numbering 35,043. The late-game magic was the third career walk-off hit for Burger and Miami’s 8th walk-off win of 2023.

If you ever find yourself down four runs in the bottom of the 9th:

Just 🐠
Keep 🐠
Swimming 🐠 pic.twitter.com/FsQg61SdVw

— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) August 13, 2023

Heading into the ninth the ballclub appeared to be on the verge of losing. They were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position trailing by four runs. New York made sure things did not go according to plan by knocking around Eury Pérez. The Bronx Bombers owned the base paths recording five steals including a career-high three from Gleyber Torres. Gerrit Cole put up a six-inning quality gem surrendering two runs on six hits. The Yanks also scored in five consecutive innings. Despite all this, the Marlins never quit.

A.J. Puk and Jorge López made sure the Yankees didn’t score another run. Yuli Gurriel led off with a double to begin the comeback. With one out Nick Fortes produced a base hit followed by a crucial walk from Jazz Chisholm Jr. to load the bases. Josh Bell’s grounder was knocked down by Holmes but the closer flubbed the throw to first allowing two runs. Luis Arraez, who finished the day going 3-for-5, tripled down the right-field line tying the game. Once Tommy Kahnle walked Bryan De La Cruz, Burger’s moment had come crushing the ball to left field on a 2-1 count for the game-winner.

The hero of today's game: 🍔 pic.twitter.com/F29b3eJ2xG

— Gabriel Garcia (@Gabewritesports) August 13, 2023

How we got there

The pitching duel was on as both starters traded a pair of strikeouts in the first. New York opened up the scoring with a run in the second. After drawing a questionable walk, Harrison Bader stole his 14th base of the season. With a runner in scoring position, Isiah Kiner-Falefa produced an RBI single. The Bronx Bombers remained aggressive on the base paths as Kiner-Falefa also swiped one against Jacob Stallings, however, Pérez mitigated the damage.

New York scored again in the third. Giancarlo Stanton swung a liner to the left side with Aaron Judge aboard for the RBI double. The Fish got one back. Joey Wendle led off with a hit up the middle followed by a walk from Stallings. The Marlins ultimately cashed in on the good start to the inning. Arraez hit a bloop to shallow left field with runners at the corners for the two-out run.

Coach goes over Josh Bell and Jake Burger's contributions and what they mean for this team.#MakeItMiami pic.twitter.com/LmnANhZywJ

— Gabriel Garcia (@Gabewritesports) August 13, 2023

The pinstripes countered with a two-run blast from Anthony Volpe mashing his 16th dinger of the season. During the fourth, Perez threw one right into Volpe’s wheelhouse where he is slugging .591 in 2023. New York extended its advantage in the fifth. Torres kept up the aggression, stealing second and then third coming home on a wild pitch from Huascar Brazoban. Stanton scored later when Billy McKinney grounded into a force out. Torres would steal his third of the day in the seventh.

Ben Rortvedt made it 7-1 by going deep in the sixth. Miami scratched two more runs courtesy of a Burger base hit and De La Cruz’s double.

Impressions

Josh Bell talks about the magic in the ninth and the opportunity to play for Miami.#MakeItMiami pic.twitter.com/IzobLyHbvH

— Gabriel Garcia (@Gabewritesports) August 13, 2023

You can add this to the memorable victories over the Yankees pile. New York style pizza is now inferior to Burgers. Several of us in the press box thought this game was over by the sixth inning, boy were we wrong. Fans definitely got their money’s worth this weekend.  Attendance for this highly anticipated series was 100,001. Today’s game drew 35,043 making it the third-highest non-opening day game in loanDepot park history. And Miami took full advantage of it. A day since Sandy Alcantara’s phenomenal 116-pitch complete game, the Fish overcame six innings worth of struggles to clinch the three-game battle.

It was a very important series win. The ballclub came out on top in front of big crowds, a key ingredient towards successfully maintaining fan interest especially since the Marlins are very much in the playoff race. Kudos to upper management for the product on the field (so far) especially after the trade deadline. In spite of the victory, there’s one particular area that needs improvement.

Skip Schumaker: "We got exposed today by a good team." pic.twitter.com/Km9AAmw3sz

— Gabriel Garcia (@Gabewritesports) August 13, 2023

New York torched Stallings who was unable to keep the base runners at bay. Brought in for his defense and experience, the catcher struggled behind the plate on Sunday and has not met season expectations. Could Fortes have done better? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, it was not Stallings’ day. Nor year for that matter. Houston is next in this ongoing gauntlet during a brutal part of the schedule.