NewsMarlins put together amazing comeback
Fish fall behind by seven, beat Arizona; Carroll's shot key
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
07/10/09 2:20 AM ET
PHOENIX -- Twenty-one times, the Marlins have rallied to victory this year. None, however, quite matched what took place on Thursday night at Chase Field.Behind a team-record 10-run eighth inning, the Marlins steamrolled to an improbable 14-7 win over the Diamondbacks in front of a stunned crowd of 21,558.
Florida trailed by seven runs after five innings. That all changed as the Marlins rolled off 14 straight runs, and sent 14 batters to the plate, collecting eight hits, in their team-benchmark eighth inning.
"It's just one of those things you don't try to figure out," said Dan Uggla, who had a season-high four singles, scored twice and had an RBI. "You just take it and roll with it."
The Marlins were down, 7-4, entering the eighth inning, but Brett Carroll gave the Marlins an 8-7 lead with a three-run pinch-hit homer off lefty Scott Schoeneweis. Hanley Ramirez, who hadn't played since July 4 due to a tight right hip flexor, made a pinch-hit appearance, and he came to the plate twice in the inning. The All-Star shortstop had a single and walked. Ross Gload, meanwhile, had two pinch-hit fielder's choice RBI ground balls in the historic inning.
Overcoming seven runs and winning matches a franchise record. The only other time that occurred was on June 28, 2003, at Boston, after the Marlins were trailing, 9-2.
"Like I always say, 'We never give up.' We know we can hit," said Ramirez, who is hopeful to start on Friday. "We have a pretty good team. I think we did the little things in that inning, and it was a good inning. I think we needed an inning like that."
The 14 runs are a season high, and the 17 hits are one shy of a season most (18) at Toronto on June 14.
The Marlins' biggest comeback of the season snapped Arizona's five-game winning streak. Florida remains two games behind the Phillies in the National League East.
"It quickly went from a game we completely controlled to a disaster," Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said. "I can't pinpoint an uh-oh moment, but it was certainly disastrous."
Ten times in their history, the Marlins had scored as many as eight runs in an inning. The last time it occurred was on July 21, 2007, in the seventh inning against the Reds.
In relief, Kiko Calero, who came off the disabled list on Thursday, worked a scoreless seventh inning and collected the win.
After falling behind by seven through five innings, the Marlins started chipping their way back.
Triggering the comeback was Jorge Cantu's first home run since June 3 -- a span of 118 straight at-bats. Cantu belted a two-run shot off former Marlins pitcher Yusmeiro Petit in the sixth inning. Two batters later, Jeremy Hermida rushed a home run to right-center, his ninth of the season.
The comeback victory picked up Florida left-hander Andrew Miller, who lasted a season-low 2 2/3 innings.
"The No. 1 thing for me is you don't give at-bats away," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "You have a situation where your starter doesn't go deep into the ballgame, and it gives you an opportunity to stay in the game."
The bullpen picked up 6 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
In the first inning, Miller labored through 29 pitches. Augie Ojeda singled with one out, and Justin Upton blasted a two-run homer on a 3-2 changeup.
"They took a big weight off my shoulders by coming back and winning that game, between the bullpen and the offense," Miller said.
The Diamondbacks went up by seven in the fifth inning on Chris Young's RBI groundout. The inning featured a scare when Florida reliever Burke Badenhop was struck on the left knee by a liner off the bat of Gerardo Parra. The shot to the knee left Badenhop on the ground for a few minutes before he recovered and walked with a limp off the field. X-rays came back negative and he's listed as day-to-day.
The ball struck Badenhop just above the kneecap on the muscle near his thigh. He will be re-evaluated on Friday, but he doesn't think the injury is serious.
Brian Sanches came in in relief of Badenhop and tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and he was followed by Calero.
Reliever Juan Gutierrez started off the eighth inning for Arizona, and before he knew it, the Marlins were parading 14 batters to the plate.
Carroll's homer was the first pinch-hit shot by a Marlin this season, and to his recollection, Carroll had never had a pinch-hit blast in his professional career.
"To come through pinch-hitting, I hadn't really been successful with that," Carroll said. "This was enjoyable, with the game being on the line."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
